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 CURRENT RESEARCH IN OUR GROUP

FORCE FIELDS DFT METHODS MOLECULAR EVOLUTION
Electrostatic interactions dominate the structure and free energy of biomolecules. Current force fields display large errors in relative free energies of charged groups, including metal ions, halide ions, and charged amino acid side chains.

We attempt to remedy this by developing new force field parameters that are consistent, i.e. on the same free-energy scale.

 

The main theoretical method used in today's chemistry is DFT. We use accurate benchmarks to evaluate density functionals, and to rationally explain why some functionals fail and others succeed in modeling particular properties.
Our ultimate goal is to understand molecular evolution all the way from the detailed molecular structure, via the corresponding function, and up to the psysiological level.

We are currently mainly concerned with metalloproteins such as O2-binding, Fe-containing myoglobin and Cu-containing lacasses.

 

K. P. Jensen, W. L. Jorgensen,
"Halide, Ammonium, and Alkali Metal Ion Parameters for Modeling Aqueous Solutions",
J. Chem. Theory. Comput. 2006, 2, 1499-1509.
K. P. Jensen,
"Improved Interaction Potentials for Charged Residues in Proteins",
J. Phys. Chem. B 2008, 112, 1820-1827.

 

K. P. Jensen*,
 "Bioinorganic Chemistry Modeled with the TPSSh Functional",  
Inorg. Chem. 2008, 47, 10357-10365.
K. P. Jensen, B. O. Roos, U. Ryde,
"Performance of Density Functionals for First Row Transition Metals",
J. Chem. Phys. 2007, 126, 014103.
K. P. Jensen, P. Rydberg, J. Heimdal, U. Ryde,
"A Comparison of Tetrapyrrole Cofactors in Nature and their Tuning by Axial Ligands ",
in: "Computational Modeling for Homogenous and Enzymatic Catalysis", Chapter 2, p. 27.
Ed. D. G. Musaev and K. Morokuma, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. 2008.

 

copyright 2008 k.p. kepp