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Pfaendtner, Jim

Publications and source records attributed to Pfaendtner, Jim.

46 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Amphiphilic peptide binding on crystalline vs. amorphous silica from molecular dynamics simulations

The leucine-lysine amphiphilic peptide LKα14 has been used to study fundamental driving forces in processes such as peptide-surface binding and biomineralization. Here, we employ molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in tandem with replica exchange metadynamics to probe the binding mechanism and thermodynamics of LKα14 on silica. We also investigate the effect that the nature of the silica surface – crystalline vs. amorphous, has on the binding properties and peptide-surface conformations. We find that water adsorbs differently on both surfaces; it forms a denser interfacial layer on the crystalline surface, compared to the amorphous surface. This causes the peptide to bind more strongly on the amorphous surface than the crystalline surface. Cluster analysis shows that the peptide adopts a helical conformation at both surfaces, with a greater distribution of states on the crystalline surface. Peptide binding is primarily through lysine interactions, in line with prior experimental results.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

IL-Net: Using Expert Knowledge to Guide the Design of Furcated Neural Networks

Deep neural networks (DNN) excel at extracting patterns. Through representation learning and automated feature engineering on large datasets, such models have been highly successful in computer vision and natural language applications. Designing optimal network architectures from a principled or rational approach however has been less than successful, with the best successful approaches utilizing an additional machine learning algorithm to tune the network hyperparameters. However, in many technical fields, there exist established domain knowledge and understanding about the subject matter. In this work, we develop a novel furcated neural network architecture that utilizes domain knowledge as high-level design principles of the network. We demonstrate proof-of-concept by developing IL-Net, a furcated network for predicting the properties of ionic liquids, which is a class of complex multi-chemicals entities. Compared to existing state-of-the-art approaches, we show that furcated networks can improve model accuracy by approximately 20-35%, without using additional labeled data. Lastly, we distill two key design principles for furcated networks that can be adapted to other domains.

Sakloth, Khushmeen↗
DOE OSTI2018

Biasing Smarter, Not Harder, by Partitioning Collective Variables into Families in Parallel Bias Metadynamics

Molecular simulations of systems with multiple copies of identical atoms or molecules may require the biasing of numerous, degenerate collective variables (CVs) to accelerate sampling. Recently, a variation of metadynamics (MetaD) named parallel bias metadynamics (PBMetaD) has been shown to make biasing of many CVs more tractable. We extended the PBMetaD scheme so that it partitions degenerate CVs into families that share the same bias potential, consequently expediting convergence of the free-energy landscape. We tested our method, named parallel bias metadynamics with partitioned families, on 3, 21, and 78 CV systems and obtained an approximately proportional increase in convergence speed compared to standard PBMetaD.

Prakash, Arushi↗
DOE OSTI2018

Peptoid Backbone Flexibilility Dictates Its Interaction with Water and Surfaces: A Molecular Dynamics Investigation

Peptoids are peptide-mimetic biopolymers that are easy-to-synthesize and adaptable for use in drugs, chemical scaffolds, and coatings. However, there is insufficient information about their structural preferences and interactions with the environment in various applications. We conducted a study to understand the fundamental differences between peptides and peptoids using molecular dynamics simulations with semi-empirical (PM6) and empirical (AMBER) potentials, in conjunction with metadynamics enhanced sampling. From studies of single molecules in water and on surfaces, we found that sarcosine (model peptoid) is much more flexible than alanine (model peptide) in different environments. However, the sarcosine and alanine interact similarly with a hydrophobic or a hydrophilic. Finally, this study highlights the conformational landscape of peptoids and the dominant interactions that drive peptoids towards these conformations. ACKNOWLEDGMENT: MD simulations and manuscript preparation were supported by the MS3 (Materials Synthesis and Simulation Across Scales) Initiative at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a multi-program national laboratory operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy. CJM was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences. MDB was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Biomolecular Materials Program at PNNL. Computing resources were generously allocated by University of Washington's IT department and PNNL's Institutional Computing program. The authors greatly acknowledge conversations with Dr. Kayla Sprenger, Josh Smith, and Dr. Yeneneh Yimer.

alanine↗
DOE OSTI2017

Quantifying the Molecular-Scale Aqueous Response to the Mica Surface

Modeling assembly at surfaces requires a multi-scale understanding of the interactions between solutes, solvents, and surfaces. We investigated the solvent response (water structure and orientation) to a dielectric surface (mica) using density functional theory. A different water structure is engendered by replacing naturally-occurring surface ions (K+) with H3O+ and validates classical models for the mica surface (CLAYFF). The detailed microscopic response of water to mica can be used as input into continuum models for the total interactions between two mica surfaces supporting a strong correlation between physicochemical phenomena at different scales.

Prakash, Arushi↗
DOE OSTI2016

Ice-nucleating bacteria control the order and dynamics of interfacial water

Ice-nucleating organisms play important roles in the environment. With their ability to induce ice formation at temperatures just below the ice melting point, bacteria such as Pseudomonas syringae attack plants through frost damage using specialized ice-nucleating proteins. Besides the impact on agriculture and microbial ecology, airborne P. syringae can affect atmospheric glaciation processes, with consequences for cloud evolution, precipitation, and climate. Biogenic ice nucleation is also relevant for artificial snow production and for biomimetic materials for controlled interfacial freezing. We use interface-specific sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy to show that hydrogen bonding at the water-bacteria contact imposes structural ordering on the adjacent water network. Experimental SFG data and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that ice active sites within P. syringae feature unique hydrophilic-hydrophobic patterns to enhance ice nucleation. Finally, the freezing transition is further facilitated by the highly effective removal of latent heat from the nucleation site, as apparent from time-resolved SFG spectroscopy.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Millisecond Pulsed Films Unify the Mechanisms of Cellulose Fragmentation

The mechanism of crystalline cellulose fragmentation has been debated between classical models proposing end-chain or intrachain scission to form short-chain (molten) anhydro-oligomer mixtures and volatile organic compounds. Models developed over the last few decades suggest global kinetics consistent with either mechanism, but validation of the chain-scission mechanism via measured reaction rates of cellulose has remained elusive. To resolve these differences, we introduce a new thermal-pulsing reactor four orders of magnitude faster than conventional thermogravimetic analysis (10 6 vs 10 2 °C/min) to measure the millisecond-resolved evolution of cellulose and its volatile products at 400–550 °C. By comparison of cellulose conversion and furan product formation kinetics, both mechanisms are shown to occur with the transition from chain-end scission to intrachain scission above 467 °C concurrent with liquid formation comprised of short-chain cellulose fragments.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Folding and insertion thermodynamics of the transmembrane WALP peptide

The anchor of most integral membrane proteins consists of one or several helices spanning the lipid bilayer. The WALP peptide, GWW(LA){sub n} (L)WWA, is a common model helix to study the fundamentals of protein insertion and folding, as well as helix-helix association in the membrane. Its structural properties have been illuminated in a large number of experimental and simulation studies. In this combined coarse-grained and atomistic simulation study, we probe the thermodynamics of a single WALP peptide, focusing on both the insertion across the water-membrane interface, as well as folding in both water and a membrane. The potential of mean force characterizing the peptide’s insertion into the membrane shows qualitatively similar behavior across peptides and three force fields. However, the Martini force field exhibits a pronounced secondary minimum for an adsorbed interfacial state, which may even become the global minimum—in contrast to both atomistic simulations and the alternative PLUM force field. Even though the two coarse-grained models reproduce the free energy of insertion of individual amino acids side chains, they both underestimate its corresponding value for the full peptide (as compared with atomistic simulations), hinting at cooperative physics beyond the residue level. Folding of WALP in the two environments indicates the helix as the most stable structure, though with different relative stabilities and chain-length dependence.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗