Cloud computing gives insights into activation

Molecular dynamics simulations can reveal important information about receptor activation, but often require specialist hardware. To overcome this limitation, Kohlhoff et al. used cloud computing to investigate the mechanism that underlies β₂-adrenergic receptor activation. Tens of thousands of independent simulations were run on Google Exacycle, which were then integrated into a single statistical model. This captured multiple previously unidentified discrete conformational states of the receptor, which were linked to different activation pathways; agonists and inverse agonists interacted differentially with these pathways.