2020 Martini Workshop

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Last Updated: Wednesday, 29 April 2020 12:48

!!!!! Cancelled !!!!

Announcing the 2020 Martini Coarse-Graining Workshop

Where: University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.

Links to the venue and city:

  1. Address and info of the venue
  2. Location of the venue
  3. Directions from Martini hotel to the venue

When: August 23-28, 2020. The workshop starts on Sunday, August 23 at 8 pm (welcome reception), first lecture on Monday, August 24 at 9 am, and finishes on Friday, August 28 at 1 pm.

What:

  • Lectures about background, philosophy and theory of coarse-grained models in general but mostly specifically about the Martini coarse-grained model.
  • Hands-on sessions where one can experience the aspects of the model, get practical experience with setting-up, running and developing new or refined Martini models. Experienced users are available for guidance and discussion.

Who: Anyone interested! However, we assume that you have a working knowledge of the Linux operating system and some experience on running MD simulations. The idea is that everyone, from beginner to experienced modeller will be able to work and progress on their own. Keep in mind that you will gain more from the workshop if you invest time in some modelling tools before the workshop starts. All hands-on exercises use a recent GROMACS version. We advise you to get some practice with GROMACS before the workshop, in this way you will spend more time on learning coarse-graining than on learning GROMACS.

Read more: 2020 Martini Workshop

Actin membrane binding

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Last Updated: Tuesday, 03 March 2020 08:02

Actin fibres are important for the shape, strength and movement of cells. They can bind to the cell membrane, providing it with support. However, exactly how they bind is unknown. Martini-based simulations (what else ?), supported by experiments, reveal how divalent ions can either enhance or suppress the binding strength dependent on lipid composition. For details, see: Schroer et al., PNAS, online.

actin-membrane.jpg

Martini 2.3 featuring cation-π interactions

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Last Updated: Monday, 09 March 2020 12:55

Check out this improved version of Martini, now able to represent cation-π interactions and allowing a much more realistic binding of peripheral membrane proteins. The version is coined 2.3, but should not be confused with the forthcoming release of Martini 3 which concerns a thorough recalibration of the full interaction matrix. For details, see:

H.M. Khan et al., Capturing choline-aromatics cation-π interactions in the MARTINI force field, JCTC, 2020. doi.org/10.1021/acs.jctc.9b01194

The new parameter definitions can be downloaded here.

Martini twitter account

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Last Updated: Friday, 07 February 2020 10:55

Apparently there is this new platform called 'twitter'. I thought it would be a good idea to open an account for Martini, so interested people can keep up to date with the latest developments. Check @CG_Martini and #CG_Martini and spread the word ....

Martini proteins on the move

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Last Updated: Thursday, 06 February 2020 09:12

The application range of Martini keeps expanding. See for instance this recent publication from a Japanese group on conformational changes of a protein upon ligand binding:

T. Negami, K. Shimuzu, T. Terada. Chem. Phys. Lett. 742, 2020. doi:10.1016/j.cplett.2020.137144

Honorary doctorate

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Last Updated: Thursday, 16 January 2020 21:44

DOCTOR-HONORIS-CAUSA.jpg Largely based on the success story of Martini, the University Polytechnica of Bucharest has awarded Prof. Marrink a honorary doctorate ("honoris causa").

See here for more details of the ceremony, which took place on January 15th in Bucharest in the presence of the rector and several local professors, as well as the embassador of the Netherlands in Romenia.