An evaluation of non-periodic boundary condition models in molecular dynamics simulations using prion octapeptides as probes

Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed under periodic boundary conditions and using four non-periodic solvation models. The biomolecular probe in these simulations was a single repeat of the copper-binding octapeptide in the human prion protein, PHGGGWGQ. Although the alternative non-periodic solvation models enable a reduction in computational time, the dynamical disadvantages are considerable when using any of these four non-periodic models. For simulations of systems similar to the test system, periodic boundary conditions are a better alternative than any of the four local models.