Regensburg 2007 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 16: Poster Session I
BP 16.17: Poster
Tuesday, March 27, 2007, 17:00–19:30, Poster D
Transport of phospholipids in the canalicular membrane of the hepatocyte — •Thomas Schwager1, Hermann-Georg Holzhütter2, and Andreas Herrmann3 — 1Charite, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin — 2Institut für Biochemie, Charite, 10117 Berlin — 3Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität, 10115 Berlin
The bile is secreted by the hepatocytes from the liver of humans and other vertebrates. It plays an important role in the import of fat and in the export of cholesterol and xenobiotics. The hepatocytes pair to form a tiny canaliculus which transports the secreted bile. We present a mathematical model which contains the main molecular processes involved in the bile formation at the canalicular membrane. The membranes are modelled as a pair of regular hexagonal lattices, one of each representing the inner and the outer leaflet. The mobile constituents of the membrane may move along the lattice as well as between the leaflets, the so-called flip-flop. The interaction properties of the different particle species are characterized by affinities which influence the mobility of the particles. Although the model is very simple, it can quantitatively represent the known state of the canalicular membrane. It is applied to study the effect of perturbations of this reference state. Two examples of such perturbations: depletion of cholesterol and partial knock-out of the MDR3 transporter will be studied.