Lipid membranes in a physiological context cannot be understood without taking into account their mobile environment. Here, we report on a high energy-resolution neutron backscattering study to investigate slow motions on nanosecond time scales in highly oriented solid supported phospholipid bilayers of the model system DMPC -d54 (deuterated 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phoshatidylcholine). This technique allows discriminating the Q-dependent onset of mobility and provides a benchmark test regarding the feasibility of dynamical neutron scattering investigations on these sample systems. Apart from freezing of the lipid acyl-chains, we could observe a second freezing temperature that we attribute to the hydration water in between the membrane stacks. The freezing is lowered several degrees as compared to (heavy) bulk water.
Ultra-long-chain fatty acids (ULCFAs) are biosynthesized in the restricted tissues such as retina, testis, and skin. The conformation of a single ULCFA, in which the sn-1 unsaturated chain has 32 carbons, in three types of tensionless phospholipid bilayers is studied by molecular dynamics simulations. It is found that the ultra-long tail of the ULCFA flips between two leaflets and fluctuates among an elongation into the opposite leaflet, lying between two leaflets, and turning back. As the number ratio of lipids in the opposite leaflet increases, the ratio of the elongated shape linearly decre…
Genesis of a Horizontal Electric Field within the Lipid Bilayer: A Bilayer-Embedded Actuation Platform
Laboratory for Nanoelectronics and Spintronics, Research Institute of Electrical Communication (RIEC), Tohoku University（东北大学电气通信研究所纳米电子与自旋电子学实验室）；Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Tohoku University（东北大学生物医学工程学院研究生院）；School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology（北京理工大学机电学院）；Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University（东北大学材料研究高等研究院）；Department of Molecular Neuroscience, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui（福井大学医学科学部分子神经科学系）；Life Science Innovation Center, University of Fukui（福井大学生命科学创新中心）
Regarding the effect on the bending modulus of adding cholesterol to lipid bilayers, recent results using neutron spin echo and nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation methods that involve linear transport properties have conflicted with earlier results from purely equilibrium experiments that do not involve linear transport properties. A general discussion indicates how one can be misled by data obtained by methods that involve linear transport properties. It is then shown specifically how the recent neutron spin echo results can be interpreted to agree with the earlier purely equilibrium exper…
Amphiphilic lipid bilayers modify the friction properties of the surfaces on top of which they are deposited. In particular, the measured sliding friction coefficient is significantly reduced compared with the native surface. We investigate in this work the friction properties of a numerical coarse-grained model of DSPC (1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) lipid bilayer subject to longitudinal shear. The interleaflet friction coefficient is obtained from out-of-equilibrium pulling and relaxation simulations. In particular, we gain access to the transient viscoelastic response of a shea…
A fundamental result in the theory of Brownian motion is the Einstein-Sutherland relation between mobility and diffusion constant. Any classical linear response transport coefficient obeys a similar Einstein-Helfand relation. We show in this work how to derive the interleaflet friction coefficient of lipid bilayer by means of an adequate generalisation of the Einstein relation. Special attention must be paid in practical cases to the constraints on the system center of mass position that must be enforced when coupling the system to thermostat.
On the lipid-bacterial protein interaction studied by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation, transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy
We formulate a theory of electrostatic interactions in lipid bilayer membranes where both monolayer leaflets contain dissociable moieties that are subject to charge regulation. We specifically investigate the coupling between membrane curvature and charge regulation of a lipid bilayer vesicle using both the linear Debye-Hückel (DH) and the non-linear Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) theory. We find that charge regulation of an otherwise symmetric bilayer membrane can induce charge symmetry breaking, non-linear flexoelectricity and anomalous curvature dependence of free energy. The pH effects investigate…
What can we learn about the lipid vesicle structure from the small-angle neutron scattering experiment? (Investigation DMPC vesicle structure by small angle neutron scattering)
Membrane proteins typically deform the surrounding lipid bilayer membrane, which can play an important role in the function, regulation, and organization of membrane proteins. Membrane elasticity theory provides a beautiful description of protein-induced lipid bilayer deformations, in which all physical parameters can be directly determined from experiments. Analytic treatments of the membrane elasticity theory of protein-induced lipid bilayer deformations have largely focused on idealized protein shapes with circular cross section, and on perturbative solutions for proteins with non-circular …
Nano-scale mechanical probing of supported lipid bilayers with atomic force microscopy
我们目前的理论和实验的力-距离曲线$F(z_0)$的原子力显微镜（AFM）针尖（半径$R$）压痕支持的流体双层（厚度$2d$）。对于实际条件，力由双层的面积压缩性模量$κ_A$主导，并且在极好的近似下由$F= πκ_A R z_0^2/(2d-z_0)^2$给出。我们的模型很好地描述了三组分脂质双层中共存的液体有序区和液体无序区的AFM力曲线，并提供了与文献值一致的$κ_A$。液体有序相具有类似于我们通过氢键断裂建模的屈服响应。
Atomistic picture of fluorescent probes with hydrocarbon tails in lipid bilayer membranes: an investigation of selective affinities and fluorescent anisotropies in different environmental phases
