Analysis of helix-helix interactions of bacteriorhodopsin by replica-exchange simulations

We performed long-time replica-exchange Monte Carlo simulations of bacteriorhodopsin transmembrane helices, which made it possible that wide conformational space was sampled. Using only the helix-helix interactions and starting from random initial configurations, we obtained the nativelike helix arrangement successfully and predicted a part of the configurations (three helices out of seven) precisely. By the principal component analysis we classified low-energy structures into some clusters of similar structures, and we showed that the above nativelike three-helix configuration is reproduced properly in most clusters and that not only the van der Waals interactions but also the electrostatic interactions contributed to the stabilization of the native structures.