HeroMDAnalysis: an automagical tool for GROMACS-based molecular dynamics simulation analysis

Future Med Chem. 2021 Mar;13(5):447-456. doi: 10.4155/fmc-2020-0191. Epub 2021 Jan 26.

Abstract

Background & objective: Molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) using GROMACS are among the commonly used computational experiments in the area of molecular biology and drug discovery. This article presents a project called HeroMDAnalysis, an automagical tool to analyze the GROMACS-based MDS trajectories and generate plots as high-quality images for various parameters. Materials & methods: The tool was built using bash shell programming, and graphical user interface was built using Zenity engine. Results & conclusion: This tool offers a simple, semiautomated, and relatively fast framework for what was previously a complex, manual, time-consuming and error-prone task, presenting a useful method for biochemists and synthetic chemists with no prior experience of the command line interface.

Keywords: Bash and Zenity computational tool development; GROMACS; HeroMDAnalysis; graphical user interface/automation; molecular dynamic simulation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Ligands
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation*
  • User-Computer Interface*

Substances

  • Ligands