Berlin 2024 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 16: Membranes and Vesicles II

BP 16.4: Vortrag

Mittwoch, 20. März 2024, 10:15–10:30, H 0112

Molecular Origin of Plasma Membrane Heterogeneity and its Function — •Madhusmita Tripathy^{1, 2} and Anand Srivastava¹ — ¹Molecular Biophysics Unit, IISc Bangalore, India — ²Department of Chemistry, TU Darmstadt, Germany

Plasma membrane(PM) heterogeneity has long been implicated in various cellular functions such as cell signaling and vesicle trafficking. However, their molecular origin and mechanistic principles governing their function are not well understood, as their nanoscopic and highly dynamic nature limit both direct experimental measurements and their interpretation. Toward this, we employ computer simulation to study model membranes with coexisting liquid ordered (Lo) and liquid disordered (Ld) phases. We characterize membrane heterogeneity using a non-affine deformation framework [1] and probe the three-dimensional lipid packing defects [2], both of which can be considered as conjugates. In doing so, we formalize the seemingly trivial connection between membrane packing and local membrane order. We use this connection to explore the mechanistic principles behind preferential localization of proteins in mixed phase membranes and membrane permeability of small molecules. Our observations suggest that heterogeneity in liquid membranes follow some generic features, where functions may arise based on packing-related basic design principles [3].
[1] S. Iyer, M. Tripathy and A. Srivastava Biophys. J.(2018) 115, 117
[2] M. Tripathy, S. Thangamani and A. Srivastava J. Chem. Theory Comput.(2020) 16, 12, 7800
[3] M. Tripathy and A. Srivastava Biophys. J.(2023) 122, 13, 2727