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More on docking flags


See the docking quick reference card (located in the RosettaDock parent directory) for a detailed description of all Rosetta flags.

Protocol flags:

    -dock_min:  minimize the full-atom decoy
    -dock_mcm:  Monte Carlo minimize the full-atom decoy
    -prepack_full:  separate the components, repack separately, put them back, and write PDB (to create starting position)
    -prepack_rtmin:  prepack_full, with off-rotamer sampling of side chains added

Overall docking flags (I frequently refer to these as "search flags"):

-randomize1:  randomize orientation of partner 1
-randomize2:  randomize orientation of partner 2
-spin:  spin the partners randomly around line of centers (automatically on if randomize 1 or 2 is on)
-dock_pert <n> <p> <r>:  initial perturbation of the starting structure
n:  normal perturbation in angstroms (along the line of centers; default = 3.0 A)
p:  parallel perturbation in angstroms (in the plane perpendicular to the line of centers; default = 8.0A)
r:  rotational perturbation in deg (both rotation relative to the line of centers and rotation around the line of centers; default = 8 deg)

Side chain modeling flags:

The default protocol for chi angles is to model three standard rotamers per angle.  The -ex flags model the three standard angles and each of the three standard angles plus or minus one standard deviation, for a total of nine rotamers per angle.  If -ex is turned on for all four chi angles, the simulation time will become very long.  We suggest using just -ex1 and -ex2aro_only.

-ex1:  use extra conformations (nine rotamers) for chi1 angles in side-chain packing
-ex2:  use extra conformations for chi2 angles in side-chain packing
-ex3:  use extra conformations for chi3 angles in side-chain packing
-ex4:  use extra conformations for chi4 angles in side-chain packing
-ex2aro_only:   use extra rotamers for only TRP,PHE and TYR chi2 angles in side-chain packing
-find_disulf:   treat cysteine side-chains in a disulfide bond specially
-norepack_disulf:  do not change cysteine side-chain conformations if in a disulfide bond (need -find_disulf to be functional)
-norepack1:  do not change side-chain conformations in the protein partner 1
-norepack2:  do not change side-chain conformations in the protein partner
-unboundrot: add original side-chain angles from the "unbound" structure into the rotamer library for side-chain packing (require the unbound structure to be defined)
-dock_rtmin  allow off-rotamer side-chain modeling during docking fullatom "dock_mcm" mode. (In prepacking step, use -prepack_rtmin, else use -prepack_full).   

dock_pert is best used for optimizing an already good structure or for sampling the energy surface around a correct ('native') structure.  

The dock_rtmin option is described in detail in Wang et al., Protein Science 2005.

Again, randomize is best used in a blind run.  You can randomize one partner or both.  If no randomize flag is given, the default is dock_pert 3 8 8.  If you are confident that the interface is confined to a certain patch on a docking partner, then you will want to orient that patch toward the interface before docking and NOT randomize that partner.

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