Dresden 2006 – scientific programme

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AKB: Biologische Physik

AKB 40: Poster Session II

AKB 40.66: Poster

Wednesday, March 29, 2006, 16:30–19:30, P3

Mesoscopic simulations of membrane protein diffusion and membrane-protein interactions — •Gernot Guigas and Matthias Weiss — Cellular Biophysics Group (BIOMS), Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120 Heidelberg

We use dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) to study the diffusion of membrane proteins and how active proteins alter the membrane’s (elastic) properties. We find that the size-dependent diffusion coefficient D(R) of integral membrane proteins with radius R is best described by the Saffman-Delbrück relation. To our knowledge, this is the first computational confirmation of the logarithmic dependence of D on R. We further show that active proteins can considerably alter the membrane’s (elastic) properties, e.g. phospholipase A₂ softens the membrane while cleaving phospholipids into lysolipids and fatty acids [1].

[1] Jakobsen, Mouritsen, Weiss, J. Phys. Condens. Mat. 17, S4015 (2005).