NAMD, recipient of a 2002 Gordon Bell Award, a 2012 Sidney Fernbach Award, and a 2020 Gordon Bell Prize, is a parallel molecular dynamics code designed for high-performance simulation of large biomolecular systems. Based on Charm++ parallel objects, NAMD scales to hundreds of cores for typical simulations and beyond 500,000 cores for the largest simulations. NAMD uses the popular molecular graphics program VMD for simulation setup and trajectory analysis, but is also file-compatible with AMBER, CHARMM, and X-PLOR. NAMD is distributed free of charge with source code. You can build NAMD yourself or download binaries for a wide variety of platforms. Our tutorials show you how to use NAMD and VMD for biomolecular modeling.

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made with VMD

When human immundeficiency virus (HIV) infects a human cell, it releases into the interior of the cell its capsid (made of about 1,300 identical so-called CA proteins), a closed, stable container that protects the viral genetic material (see also June 2013 highlight Elusive HIV-1 Capsid and August 2015 highlight Anatomy of a Dormant Killer). Once in the cell ― while avoiding detection by cellular proteins ― the capsid deceives the cell and directs the cell machinery to transport it to the nucleus. The human-cell protein Cyclophilin A (CypA) is thereby exploited to act against the cell's well being and to assist the HIV infection by getting the capsid to access the cell nucleus; this results in a delicate choreography accomplished by escaping anti-viral proteins in the cell and deceiving transport proteins at the nucleus, all of which contain a CypA domain that interacts directly with the capsid. Despite the availability of the crystal structure of the complex of CypA and CA proteins determined nearly 20 years ago, the mechanism by which CypA assists the capsid has been unclear due to the lack of information on CypA in complex with not one CA protein, but the entire capsid. In collaboration with experimental groups, computational biologist have shown in a recent report that the effects of CypA on the capsid are not only structural, but also dynamical. Thus, new therapeutic strategies may be envisioned through modulation of the dynamics of the capsid by small-molecule (drug) compounds that inhibit the binding of CypA to the capsid. More information is available on our retrovirus website and in a YouTube video.

Overview

Why NAMD? (in pictures)
How to Cite NAMD
Features and Capabilities
Performance Benchmarks
Publications and Citations
Credits and Development Team

Availability

Read the License
Download NAMD Binaries (also VMD)
Build from Source Code - Git access now available
Run at NCSA, SDSC, NICS, or Texas

Training

NAMD Developer Workshop in Urbana (August 19-20, 2019)
PRACE School on HPC for Life Sciences (June 10-13, 2019)
"Hands-On" Workshop in Pittsburgh (May 13-17, 2019)
Charm++ Workshop in Urbana (May 1-2, 2019)
Enhanced Sampling and Free-Energy Workshop (Sept 10-14, 2018)
NAMD Developer Workshop in Urbana (June 11-12, 2018)
"Hands-On" Workshop in Pittsburgh (May 21-25, 2018)
"Hands-On" QM/MM Simulation Workshop (April 5-7, 2018)
Older "Hands-On" Workshops

Support

Announcements

Documentation

Related Codes, Scripts, and Examples
NAMD Wiki (Recent Changes)
Older Documentation

News

AMBER force field use in NAMD for large scale simulation
NAMD GPU-resident benchmarks available
NAMD and VMD share in COVID-19 Gordon Bell Special Prize
NAMD reference paper published online
Coronavirus Simulations by U. Delaware Team
Coronavirus Simulations on Frontera Supercomputer
Breakthrough Flu Simulations
Oak Ridge Exascale Readiness Program
Prepping for Next-Generation Cray at NERSC
Supercomputing HIV-1 Replication
How GPUs help in the fight against staph infections
Computational Microscope Gets Subatomic Resolution
Opening New Frontiers in the Battle Against HIV/AIDS
HIV Capsid Interacting with Environment
Assembling Life's Molecular Motor
Older News Items