Molecular dynamics simulation of hen egg white lysozyme: A test of the GROMOS96 force field against nuclear magnetic resonance data

Biomolecular force fields for use in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of proteins, DNA, or membranes are generally parametrized against ab initio quantum‐chemical and experimental data for small molecules. The application of a force field in a simulation of a biomolecular system, such as a protein in solution, may then serve as a test of the quality and transferability of the force field. Here, we compare various properties obtained from two MD simulations of the protein hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) in aqueous solution using the latest version, GROMOS96, of the GROMOS force field and an earlier version, GROMOS87+, with data derived from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments: NOE atom–atom distance bounds, 3JHNα‐coupling constants, and backbone and side‐chain order parameters. The convergence of these quantities over a 2‐ns period is considered, and converged values are compared to experimental ones. The GROMOS96 simulation shows better agreement with the NMR data and also with the X‐ray crystal structure of HEWL than the GROMOS87+ simulation, which was based on an earlier version of the GROMOS force field. Proteins 2000;40:145–153. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.