Effects of High Pressure on Phospholipid Bilayers

Ding, Wei; Wei, Ding; Palaiokostas, Michail; Shahane, Ganesh; Wang, Wen; Orsi, Mario

Abstract

© 2017 American Chemical Society. The response of lipid membranes to changes in external pressure is important for many biological processes, and it can also be exploited for technological applications. In this work, we employ all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to characterize the changes in the physical properties of phospholipid bilayers brought about by high pressure (1000 bar). In particular, we study how the response differs, in relation to different chain unsaturation levels, by comparing monounsaturated 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (POPC) and biunsaturated dioleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC) bilayers. Various structural, mechanical, and dynamical features are found to be altered by the pressure increase in both bilayers. Notably, for most properties, including bilayer area and thickness, lipid order parameters, lateral pressure profile, and curvature frustration energy, we observe significantly more pronounced effects for monounsaturated POPC than biunsaturated DOPC. Possible biological implications of the results obtained are discussed, especially in relation to how different lipids can control the structure and function of membrane proteins.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 19, 2017
• Publication Date: Oct 19, 2017
• Deposit Date: Oct 17, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 19, 2018
• Journal: Journal of Physical Chemistry B
• Print ISSN: 1520-6106
• Electronic ISSN: 1520-5207
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 121
• Issue: 41
• Pages: 9597-9606
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b07119
• Keywords: high pressure, phospholipid bilayers
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/880926
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b07119
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b07119.
• Contract Date: Oct 17, 2017