CONAN

CONAN is a software tool designed to help researchers and scientists understand the dynamics and function of biomolecules. By analyzing inter-residue contacts from molecular dynamics (MD) trajectories, CONAN performs various analyses such as correlation, principal component, and cluster analysis. The software creates videos of time-resolved contact maps and identifies features that describe the dynamics of proteins or other biomolecules.

The analysis of contacts is a useful tool to understand biomolecular function in a series of contexts, from investigating dynamical behavior at equilibrium to studying nonequilibrium dynamics in which the system moves between multiple states. CONAN is a versatile and easy-to-use tool that can significantly facilitate understanding complex dynamical behavior.

Researchers can use CONAN to identify the specific contacts related to functionally relevant states sampled by MD. The software can also analyze MD trajectories of different biomolecules, including peptides, proteins, and nucleic acids. For example, CONAN can identify the multiple states an α-synuclein mutant peptide explores along its conformational dynamics.