Understanding membrane curvature-induced lipid sorting through molecular simulation

脂类是具有疏水尾部和亲水头基的生物分子。脂质与蛋白质一起构成生物细胞膜的复杂流体混合物。细胞膜中有数百种脂质，每一种都有不同的尾群和头群组合，其中许多具有重要的生物学功能。脂质的横向组织——不同类型的脂质相互混合的方式——也发挥着重要但鲜为人知的生物学作用，包括提供跨膜传递信号的平台。基于物理的计算机模拟为研究亚纳米分辨率的生物结构提供了一个独特的机会。我们将使用计算机模拟系统地研究曲率对脂质混合和膜的局部物理性质的影响。这将增加我们对膜生物物理学的一般理解，并使我们能够更好地模拟像红细胞这样的复杂生物结构的行为。

EPSRC : Paul Smith : EP/N509498/1Lipids are biological molecules that have hydrophobic tails and hydrophilic headgroups. Along with proteins, lipids constitute the complex fluid mixture of biological cell membranes. There are hundreds of types of lipids in cell membranes, each with a different combination of tail and headgroup, and many serving important biological functions. The lateral organization of lipids - the way in which different lipid types mix with one another - also serves important but poorly understood biological roles, including providing platforms for transmitting signals across the membrane.Physics-based computer simulations offer a unique opportunity to study biological structures at sub-nanometer resolution. We will use computer simulations to systematically study the effect of curvature on lipid mixing and the local physical properties of the membrane. This will both add to our general understanding of membrane biophysics as well as allow us to better model the behavior of complex biological structures like red blood cells.