Berlin 2024 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 16: Membranes and Vesicles II

BP 16.7: Talk

Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 11:15–11:30, H 0112

Coarse-grained Simulations of Fibril Formation on Local Structures of Two-Component Membranes — •Paul Louis Sonek and Friederike Schmid — Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

The cell membrane is one of the most essential parts of the cell. It consists of different components, such as phospholipids and cholesterol, forming local membrane domain structures. It has been hypothesized that many neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's might be associated with a disturbance of the cell membrane induced by fibril formation of peptides.

In our research, we use generic coarse-grained lipid and peptide models to inspect the fibril formation near the local domain structures of our model membrane. The fibrils form primarily on top of the membrane for configurations with low amounts of our model cholesterol. However, we can observe that fibrils partly nucleate into the membrane for configurations with large amounts of cholesterol, seemingly forming an aggregate that disrupts the membrane structure. This observation correlates with the fact that membranes in the brain have larger amounts of cholesterol.

Our results may shed light on possible mechanisms responsible for the toxic effects of amyloids.

Keywords: Membranes; Fibrils; Neurodegenerative Diseases