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1. K -Means Clustering Coarse-Graining (KMC-CG): A Next Generation Methodology for Determining Optimal Coarse-Grained Mappings of Large Biomolecules

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jctc.3c01053  

   Wu, Jiangbo; Xue, Weizhi; Voth, Gregory A (December 2023, Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation)

   Coarse-grained (CG) molecular dynamics (MD) has become a method of choice for simulating various large scale biomolecular processes; therefore, the systematic definition of the CG mappings for biomolecules remains an important topic. Appropriate CG mappings can significantly enhance the representability of a CG model and improve its ability to capture critical features of large biomolecules. In this work, we present a systematic and more generalized method called K-means clustering coarse-graining (KMCCG), which builds on the earlier approach of essential dynamics coarse-graining (ED-CG). KMC-CG removes the sequence-dependent constraints of ED-CG, allowing it to explore a more extensive space and thus enabling the discovery of more physically optimal CG mappings. Furthermore, the implementation of the K-means clustering algorithm can variationally optimize the CG mapping with efficiency and stability. This new method is tested in three cases: ATP-bound G-actin, the HIV-1 CA pentamer, and the Arp2/3 complex. In these examples, the CG models generated by KMC-CG are seen to better capture the structural, dynamic, and functional domains. KMC-CG therefore provides a robust and consistent approach to generating CG models of large biomolecules that can then be more accurately parametrized by either bottom-up or top-down CG force fields. 

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2. Entropy-based methods for formulating bottom-up ultra-coarse-grained models

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0244427  

   Sahrmann, Patrick G; Voth, Gregory A (January 2025, The Journal of Chemical Physics)

   Bottom-up coarse-grained (CG) modeling is an effective means of bypassing the limited spatiotemporal scales of conventional atomistic molecular dynamics while retaining essential information from the atomistic model. A central challenge in CG modeling is the trade-off between accuracy and efficiency, as the inclusion of often pivotal many-body interaction terms in the CG force-field renders simulation markedly slower than simple pairwise models. The Ultra Coarse-Graining (UCG) method incorporates many-body terms through discrete internal state variables that modulate the CG force-field according to, e.g., changes in local environment when substantial chemical heterogeneities exist. However, assigning optimal internal states systematically from atomistic simulation data, as well as the practical application of bottom-up UCG theory to biomolecular systems, remain open problems. We develop two synergistic methods to aid in the development of UCG models that can capture inhomogeneities in atomistic systems such as those induced by phase coexistence. The first method establishes the systematic construction of UCG force-fields from a relative entropy minimization principle, while the second method utilizes machine-learning to obtain optimal local order parameters for enhanced model efficiency and transferability. We apply these methods to a methanol liquid–vapor interface and the ripple phase of a 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine lipid bilayer and demonstrate that UCG modeling alone recapitulates aspects of phase coexistence that are otherwise not observed in CG modeling. 

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3. Perspective: Advances, Challenges, and Insight for Predictive Coarse-Grained Models

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c08731  

   Noid, W. G. (May 2023, The Journal of Physical Chemistry B)

   By averaging over atomic details, coarse-grained (CG) models provide profound computational and conceptual advantages for studying soft materials. In particular, bottom-up approaches develop CG models based upon information obtained from atomically detailed models. At least in principle, a bottom-up model can reproduce all the properties of an atomically detailed model that are observable at the resolution of the CG model. Historically, bottom-up approaches have accurately modeled the structure of liquids, polymers, and other amorphous soft materials, but have provided lower structural fidelity for more complex biomolecular systems. Moreover, they have also been plagued by unpredictable transferability and a poor description of thermodynamic properties. Fortunately, recent studies have reported dramatic advances in addressing these prior limitations. This Perspective reviews this remarkable progress, while focusing on its foundation in the basic theory of coarse-graining. In particular, we describe recent insights and advances for treating the CG mapping, for modeling many-body interactions, for addressing the state-point dependence of effective potentials, and even for reproducing atomic observables that are beyond the resolution of the CG model. We also outline outstanding challenges and promising directions in the field. We anticipate that the synthesis of rigorous theory and modern computational tools will result in practical bottom-up methods that not only are accurate and transferable but also provide predictive insight for complex systems. 

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4. Understanding dynamics in coarse-grained models. I. Universal excess entropy scaling relationship

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0116299  

   Jin, Jaehyeok; Schweizer, Kenneth S.; Voth, Gregory A. (January 2023, The Journal of Chemical Physics)

   Coarse-grained (CG) models facilitate an efficient exploration of complex systems by reducing the unnecessary degrees of freedom of the fine-grained (FG) system while recapitulating major structural correlations. Unlike structural properties, assessing dynamic properties in CG modeling is often unfeasible due to the accelerated dynamics of the CG models, which allows for more efficient structural sampling. Therefore, the ultimate goal of the present series of articles is to establish a better correspondence between the FG and CG dynamics. To assess and compare dynamical properties in the FG and the corresponding CG models, we utilize the excess entropy scaling relationship. For Paper I of this series, we provide evidence that the FG and the corresponding CG counterpart follow the same universal scaling relationship. By carefully reviewing and examining the literature, we develop a new theory to calculate excess entropies for the FG and CG systems while accounting for entropy representability. We demonstrate that the excess entropy scaling idea can be readily applied to liquid water and methanol systems at both the FG and CG resolutions. For both liquids, we reveal that the scaling exponents remain unchanged from the coarse-graining process, indicating that the scaling behavior is universal for the same underlying molecular systems. Combining this finding with the concept of mapping entropy in CG models, we show that the missing entropy plays an important role in accelerating the CG dynamics. 

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5. Accessing the electronic structure of liquid crystalline semiconductors with bottom-up electronic coarse-graining

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D3SC06749A  

   Wang, Chun-I; Maier, J Charlie; Jackson, Nicholas E (June 2024, Chemical Science)

   Understanding the relationship between multiscale morphology and electronic structure is a grand challenge for semiconducting soft materials. Computational studies aimed at characterizing these multiscale relationships require the complex integration of quantum-chemical (QC) calculations, all-atom and coarse-grained (CG) molecular dynamics simulations, and back-mapping approaches. However, the integration and scalability of these methods pose substantial computational challenges that limit their application to the requisite length scales of soft material morphologies. Here, we demonstrate the bottom-up electronic coarse-graining (ECG) of morphology-dependent electronic structure in the liquid-crystal-forming semiconductor, 2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-7-octyl-benzothienobenzothiophene (BTBT). ECG is applied to construct density functional theory (DFT)-accurate valence band Hamiltonians of the isotropic and smectic liquid crystal (LC) phases using only the CG representation of BTBT. By bypassing the atomistic resolution and its prohibitive computational costs, ECG enables the first calculations of the morphology dependence of the electronic structure of charge carriers across LC phases at the ~20 nm length scale, with robust statistical sampling. kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations reveal a strong morphology dependence on zero-field charge mobility among different LC phases as well as the presence of two-molecule charge carriers that act as traps and hinder charge transport. We leverage these results to further evaluate the feasibility of developing truly mesoscopic, field-based ECG models in future works. The fully CG approach to electronic property predictions in LC semiconductors opens a new computational direction for designing electronic processes in soft materials at their characteristic length scales. 

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