In this section, you will download a file from the Protein Data Bank and perform some simple
molecular mechanics calculations.
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to see a video demo of how to calculate the heat of formation value by using AM1. In order to play these videos, you should have flashplayer plugin installed. You can download the plugin from
Go to PDB workbench
1. In the search window (in the blue bar), type in: 1OMB (that's an "oh") and click the "Site Search"
button. The 1OMB code is the Protein Data Bank ID for a small protein found in funnel
web spider venom. (NOTE: You can use the search window to find files for all sorts of
different proteins).
2. Near the upper left of the screen, click Download Files, then click on PDB File. Save the file at a
convenient location on your computer.
Go to WebMO workbench
3. Use the guest account (username: guest, password: guest) to log in the WebMO demo site.
Click New Job -> Open Editor. A small window opens where you build molecules.
4. In the WebMO Job Manager Window, choose New Job -> Create New Job.
5. Now click Import Molecule. In the Import Molecule window, click the Format pulldown
menu and choose PDB Format. Click the Generate Bonds box, then Browse to the location of the 1OMB file you downloaded and
double click on the file. You may need to drag on the corner of the Import Molecule window to increase the window size.
Near the bottom of the Import Molecule window, click the Import Molecule button.
Experimental Xray
data of proteins contain water molecules, and often do NOT have all of the H
atoms present in the structure since their positions are not always determined experimentally. There
may be other problems with downloaded structures (missing protein side chains, etc.). This
structure has all H's in place and no missing side chains.
6. Click on the blue Continue button, choose Tinker as the engine, then Type in/Choose the
following:
Job Name: (Use an appropriate name of your choice), Calculation: Geometry Optimization, Force Field: OPLS/AA
7. Click the blue Continue arrow. Your job should appear in the queue. When the job is complete, click the filename to view, etc., as before.