Berlin 2012 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 26: Posters: Membranes and Vesicles
BP 26.4: Poster
Thursday, March 29, 2012, 17:30–19:30, Poster A
Protein aggregation driven by hydrophobic mismatch — Maxim Manakov1, Khariton Matveev1, •Thorsten Auth2, and Gerhard Gompper2 — 1Research-educational Centre "Bionanophysics", Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 141700 Dolgoprudniy, Russia — 2Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Complex Systems and Institute for Advanced Simulation, 52425 Jülich, Germany
The fluid mosaic model for biological membranes proposes a homogeneous distribution of integral proteins in the lipid bilayer. However, cluster formation can be observed if an attractive interaction is taken into account. For asymmetric proteins, bilayer deformation leads to a curvature-mediated interaction. Whereas weakly-curved proteins in a planar membrane repel each other, many-particle interactions can lead to an effective attraction. For symmetric integral proteins, a mismatch of the hydrophobic length of the protein and the thickness of the lipid bilayer induces an interaction that is mediated by monolayer deformation. This system can be modeled using cylindrical inclusions for the proteins and a continuum membrane model for the monolayers; the membrane model is based on the monolayer bending rigidity and the bilayer compressibility. Numerical calculations allow us to obtain pair potentials, many-protein interactions, as well as the interaction of a single protein with a protein cluster. Both membrane-mediated attraction and translational entropy determine the ratios between monomers, dimers, trimers, and bigger aggregates that can be compared with experimental and MD simulation data.