Flip-flop asymmetry of cholesterol in model membranes induced by thermal gradients
File(s)
Supporting information
Published version
Author(s)
Carter, James W
Gonzalez, Miguel A
Brooks, Nicholas J
Seddon, John M
Bresme, Fernando
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Lipid asymmetry is a crucial property of biological membranes and significantly influences their physical and mechanical properties. It is responsible for maintaining different chemical environments on the external and internal surfaces of cells and organelles and plays a vital role in many biological processes such as cell signalling and budding. In this work we show, using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations, that thermal fields can induce lipid asymmetry in biological membranes. We focus our investigation on cholesterol, an abundant lipid in the plasma membrane, with a rapid flip-flop rate, significantly influencing membrane properties. We demonstrate that thermal fields induce membrane asymmetry with cholesterol showing thermophobic behaviour and therefore accumulating on the cold side of the membrane. This work highlights a possible experimental route to preparing and controlling asymmetry in synthetic membranes.
Date Issued
2020-07-07
Date Acceptance
2020-06-03
Citation
Soft Matter, 2020, 16 (25), pp.5925-5932
ISSN
1744-683X
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Start Page
5925
End Page
5932
Journal / Book Title
Soft Matter
Volume
16
Issue
25
Copyright Statement
© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
The Leverhulme Trust
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Identifier
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2020/SM/D0SM00546K#!divAbstract
Grant Number
EP/J003859/1
RPG-2018-384
EP/J017566/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Technology
Chemistry, Physical
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Polymer Science
Chemistry
Materials Science
Physics
LIPID-BILAYERS
NANOPARTICLES
TRANSPORT
Chemical Physics
02 Physical Sciences
03 Chemical Sciences
09 Engineering
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-06-08