Make solvent box

User discussions
1

GROMACS version: 20

Hi I am trying to make a DMSO solvent box. I followed the guide to make a box of 1.96 x 1.96 x 1.96 nm with 64 DMSO molecules (density = 1.1 g/cm3). EM and NVT equlibration is fine. However, if I use the solvent with other molecules, the system will expand (box size increases).

Then I tried NPT simulation on the DMSO solvents only. The box will expand as well. All files are attached below.

Thank you!

EM
; minim.mdp - used as input into grompp to generate em.tpr
; Parameters describing what to do, when to stop and what to save
integrator = steep ; Algorithm (steep = steepest descent minimization)
emtol = 1000.0 ; Stop minimization when the maximum force < 1000.0 kJ/mol/nm
emstep = 0.01 ; Minimization step size
nsteps = 50000 ; Maximum number of (minimization) steps to perform

; Parameters describing how to find the neighbors of each atom and how to calculate the interactions
nstlist = 1 ; Frequency to update the neighbor list and long range forces
cutoff-scheme = Verlet ; Buffered neighbor searching
ns_type = grid ; Method to determine neighbor list (simple, grid)
coulombtype = PME ; Treatment of long range electrostatic interactions
rcoulomb = 0.5 ; Short-range electrostatic cut-off
rvdw = 0.5 ; Short-range Van der Waals cut-off
pbc = xyz ; Periodic Boundary Conditions in all 3 dimensions

NVT
title = OPLS Lysozyme NVT equilibration
define = ; position restrain the protein
; Run parameters
integrator = md ; leap-frog integrator
nsteps = 50000 ; 2 * 50000 = 100 ps
dt = 0.002 ; 2 fs
; Output control
nstxout = 500 ; save coordinates every 1.0 ps
nstvout = 500 ; save velocities every 1.0 ps
nstenergy = 500 ; save energies every 1.0 ps
nstlog = 500 ; update log file every 1.0 ps
; Bond parameters
continuation = no ; first dynamics run
constraint_algorithm = lincs ; holonomic constraints
constraints = h-bonds ; bonds involving H are constrained
lincs_iter = 1 ; accuracy of LINCS
lincs_order = 4 ; also related to accuracy
; Nonbonded settings
cutoff-scheme = Verlet ; Buffered neighbor searching
ns_type = grid ; search neighboring grid cells
nstlist = 10 ; 20 fs, largely irrelevant with Verlet
rcoulomb = 0.5 ; short-range electrostatic cutoff (in nm)
rvdw = 0.5 ; short-range van der Waals cutoff (in nm)
DispCorr = EnerPres ; account for cut-off vdW scheme
; Electrostatics
coulombtype = PME ; Particle Mesh Ewald for long-range electrostatics
pme_order = 4 ; cubic interpolation
fourierspacing = 0.16 ; grid spacing for FFT
; Temperature coupling is on
tcoupl = V-rescale ; modified Berendsen thermostat
tc-grps = system ; two coupling groups - more accurate
tau_t = 0.1 ; time constant, in ps
ref_t = 300 ; reference temperature, one for each group, in K
; Pressure coupling is off
pcoupl = no ; no pressure coupling in NVT
; Periodic boundary conditions
pbc = xyz ; 3-D PBC
; Velocity generation
gen_vel = yes ; assign velocities from Maxwell distribution
gen_temp = 300 ; temperature for Maxwell distribution
gen_seed = -1 ; generate a random seed

NPT
title = OPLS Lysozyme NPT equilibration
define = ; position restrain the protein
; Run parameters
integrator = md ; leap-frog integrator
nsteps = 50000 ; 2 * 50000 = 100 ps
dt = 0.002 ; 2 fs
; Output control
nstxout = 500 ; save coordinates every 1.0 ps
nstvout = 500 ; save velocities every 1.0 ps
nstenergy = 500 ; save energies every 1.0 ps
nstlog = 500 ; update log file every 1.0 ps
; Bond parameters
continuation = yes ; Restarting after NVT
constraint_algorithm = lincs ; holonomic constraints
constraints = h-bonds ; bonds involving H are constrained
lincs_iter = 1 ; accuracy of LINCS
lincs_order = 4 ; also related to accuracy
; Nonbonded settings
cutoff-scheme = Verlet ; Buffered neighbor searching
ns_type = grid ; search neighboring grid cells
nstlist = 10 ; 20 fs, largely irrelevant with Verlet scheme
rcoulomb = 0.5 ; short-range electrostatic cutoff (in nm)
rvdw = 0.5 ; short-range van der Waals cutoff (in nm)
DispCorr = EnerPres ; account for cut-off vdW scheme
; Electrostatics
coulombtype = PME ; Particle Mesh Ewald for long-range electrostatics
pme_order = 4 ; cubic interpolation
fourierspacing = 0.16 ; grid spacing for FFT
; Temperature coupling is on
tcoupl = V-rescale ; modified Berendsen thermostat
tc-grps = system ; two coupling groups - more accurate
tau_t = 0.1 ; time constant, in ps
ref_t = 300 ; reference temperature, one for each group, in K
; Pressure coupling is on
pcoupl = Parrinello-Rahman ; Pressure coupling on in NPT
pcoupltype = isotropic ; uniform scaling of box vectors
tau_p = 2.0 ; time constant, in ps
ref_p = 1.0 ; reference pressure, in bar
compressibility = 4.5e-5 ; isothermal compressibility of water, bar^-1
refcoord_scaling = com
; Periodic boundary conditions
pbc = xyz ; 3-D PBC
; Velocity generation
gen_vel = no ; Velocity generation is off

2

Hi,
The current NPT setting uses water compressibility values. DMSO may have different compressibility. You can try to calculate DMSO model compressibility and use it in the DMSO box equilibration. Maybe this post can help

Best
Alessandra

3

Your box size is incredibly small and the cutoffs are very short, so you are also likely getting inaccuracy in the LJ potential. You don’t say what the parent force field is, but at 0.5 nm, there is still considerable LJ interaction that you’re cutting off and leaving to a long-range correction, which is not appropriate. Build a bigger box (better statistics, smaller fluctuations) and use a sensible cutoff.