scholarly journals Key Factors Governing Initial Stages of Lipid Droplet Formation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siyoung Kim ◽  
Chenghan Li ◽  
Robert Farese ◽  
Tobias C Walther ◽  
Gregory A Voth
Keyword(s):  
Free Energy ◽  
Ostwald Ripening ◽  
Neutral Lipids ◽  
Bilayer Membrane ◽  
Potential Of Mean Force ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Thermodynamic Quantities ◽  
Membrane Remodeling ◽  
Free Energy Sampling ◽  
A Minor

Lipid droplets (LDs) are neutral lipid storage organelles surrounded by a phospholipid (PL)monolayer. LD biogenesis from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is driven by phase separation of neutral lipids, overcoming surface tension and membrane deformation. However, the core biophysics of the initial steps of LD formation remain relatively poorly understood. Here, we use a tunable, phenomenological coarse-grained (CG) model to study triacylglycerol (TG) nucleation in a bilayer membrane. We show that PL rigidity has a strong influence on TG lensing and membrane remodeling: When membrane rigidity increases, TG clusters remain more planar with high anisotropy but a minor degree of phase nucleation. This finding is confirmed by free energy sampling simulations that calculate the potential of mean force (PMF) as a function of the degree of nucleation and anisotropy. We also show that asymmetric tension, controlled by the number of PLs on each membrane leaflet, determines the budding direction. A TG lens buds in the direction of the monolayer containing excess PLs to allow for better PL coverage of TG, consistent with reported experiments. Finally, two governing mechanisms of the LD growth, Ostwald ripening and merging, are observed. Taken together, this study characterizes the interplay between two thermodynamic quantities during the initial LD phases, the TG bulk free energy and membrane remodeling energy.

scholarly journals Physical Characterization of Triolein and Implications for Its Role in Lipid Droplet Biogenesis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siyoung Kim ◽  
Gregory A. Voth
Keyword(s):  
Negative Curvature ◽  
Critical Concentration ◽  
Bilayer Membrane ◽  
The Other ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Membrane Properties ◽  
Bending Modulus ◽  
Cytosolic Side ◽  
Membrane Bending ◽  
Free Energy Sampling

Lipid droplets (LDs) are neutral lipid storing organelles surrounded by a phospholipid (PL) monolayer. At present, how LDs are formed in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) bilayer is poorly understood. In this study, we present a revised triolein (TG) model, the main constituent of the LD core, and characterize its properties in a bilayer membrane to demonstrate the implications of its behavior in LD biogenesis. In all-atom (AA) bilayer simulations, TG resides at the surface, adopting PL-like conformations (denoted in this work as SURF-TG). Free energy sampling simulation results estimate the barrier for TG relocating from the bilayer surface to the bilayer center to be ~2 kcal/mol in the absence of an oil lens. Conical SURF-TG is able to modulate membrane properties by increasing PL ordering, decreasing bending modulus, and creating local negative curvature. The other conical lipid, dioleoyl-glycerol (DAG), also reduces the membrane bending modulus and populates the negative curvature regions. A phenomenological coarse-grained (CG) model is also developed to observe larger scale SURF-TG-mediated membrane deformation. The CG simulations confirm that TG nucleates between the bilayer leaflets at a critical concentration when SURF-TG is evenly distributed. However, when one monolayer contains more SURF-TG, the membrane bends toward the other leaflet. The central conclusion of this study is that SURF-TG is a negative curvature inducer, as well as a membrane modulator. To this end, a model has proposed in which the accumulation of SURF-TG in the luminal leaflet bends the ER bilayer toward the cytosolic side, followed by TG nucleation.

scholarly journals Adaptive free energy sampling in multidimensional collective variable space using boxed molecular dynamics

2016 ◽  
Vol 195 ◽  
pp. 395-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike O'Connor ◽  
Emanuele Paci ◽  
Simon McIntosh-Smith ◽  
David R. Glowacki
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Free Energy ◽  
Rare Event ◽  
Potential Of Mean Force ◽  
Good Evidence ◽  
Collective Variable ◽  
Rigid Body Dynamics ◽  
Free Energy Surface ◽  
Molecular Configuration ◽  
Free Energy Sampling

The past decade has seen the development of a new class of rare event methods in which molecular configuration space is divided into a set of boundaries/interfaces, and then short trajectories are run between boundaries. For all these methods, an important concern is how to generate boundaries. In this paper, we outline an algorithm for adaptively generating boundaries along a free energy surface in multi-dimensional collective variable (CV) space, building on the boxed molecular dynamics (BXD) rare event algorithm. BXD is a simple technique for accelerating the simulation of rare events and free energy sampling which has proven useful for calculating kinetics and free energy profiles in reactive and non-reactive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations across a range of systems, in both NVT and NVE ensembles. Two key developments outlined in this paper make it possible to automate BXD, and to adaptively map free energy and kinetics in complex systems. First, we have generalized BXD to multidimensional CV space. Using strategies from rigid-body dynamics, we have derived a simple and general velocity-reflection procedure that conserves energy for arbitrary collective variable definitions in multiple dimensions, and show that it is straightforward to apply BXD to sampling in multidimensional CV space so long as the Cartesian gradients ∇CV are available. Second, we have modified BXD to undertake on-the-fly statistical analysis during a trajectory, harnessing the information content latent in the dynamics to automatically determine boundary locations. Such automation not only makes BXD considerably easier to use; it also guarantees optimal boundaries, speeding up convergence. We have tested the multidimensional adaptive BXD procedure by calculating the potential of mean force for a chemical reaction recently investigated using both experimental and computational approaches – i.e., F + CD3CN → DF + D2CN in both the gas phase and a strongly coupled explicit CD3CN solvent. The results obtained using multidimensional adaptive BXD agree well with previously published experimental and computational results, providing good evidence for its reliability.

scholarly journals Quantitative analysis of membrane-mediated interactions and aggregation of flexible peripheral proteins orchestrating large-scale membrane remodeling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohsen Sadeghi ◽  
Frank Noe
Keyword(s):  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Effective Interaction ◽  
Bilayer Membrane ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Membrane Remodeling ◽  
Coarse Grained Model ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
Peripheral Proteins ◽  
The Stability

Shaping and remodeling of biomembranes is essential for cellular trafficking, with membrane-binding peripheral proteins playing the key role in it. Significant membrane remodeling as in endo- and exocytosis is often due to clusters or aggregates of many proteins whose interactions may be direct or mediated via the membrane. While computer simulation could be an important tool to disentangle these interactions and understand what drives cooperative protein interactions in membrane remodeling, this has so far been extremely challenging: protein-membrane systems involve time- and lengthscales that make detailed atomistic simulations impractical, while most coarse-grained models lack the degree of detail needed to resolve the dynamics and physical effect of protein and membrane flexibility. Here, we develop a coarse-grained model of the bilayer membrane bestrewed with rotationally-symmetric flexible membrane-bound proteins. We show how this model can be parameterized based on local curvatures, protein flexibility, and the in-plane dynamics of proteins. We measure the effective interaction potential for the membrane-mediated interactions between peripheral proteins. Furthermore, we investigate the kinetics, equilibrium distributions, and the free energy landscape governing the formation and break-up of protein clusters on the surface of the membrane. We demonstrate how the flexibility of the protein plays a deciding role in highly selective macroscopic aggregation behavior. Finally, we present large-scale simulations of membrane tubulation, and discuss the sequence of events and the stability of intermediates.

scholarly journals Synergistic Effect of Chemical Penetration Enhancers on Lidocaine Permeability Revealed by Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 410
Author(s):  
Marine E. Bozdaganyan ◽  
Philipp S. Orekhov
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Free Energy ◽  
Synergistic Effect ◽  
Potential Of Mean Force ◽  
Penetration Enhancers ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Membrane Thickness ◽  
Free Energy Barrier ◽  
Small Molecular Weight ◽  
Chemical Penetration Enhancers

The search for new formulations for transdermal drug delivery (TDD) is an important field in medicine and cosmetology. Molecules with specific physicochemical properties which can increase the permeability of active ingredients across the stratum corneum (SC) are called chemical penetration enhancers (CPEs), and it was shown that some CPEs can act synergistically. In this study, we performed coarse-grained (CG) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the lidocaine delivery facilitated by two CPEs—linoleic acid (LA) and ethanol—through the SC model membrane containing cholesterol, N-Stearoylsphingosine (DCPE), and behenic acid. In our simulations, we probed the effects of individual CPEs as well as their combination on various properties of the SC membrane and the lidocaine penetration across it. We demonstrated that the addition of both CPEs decreases the membrane thickness and the order parameters of the DPCE hydrocarbon chains. Moreover, LA also enhances diffusion of the SC membrane components, especially cholesterol. The estimated potential of mean force (PMF) profiles for the lidocaine translocation across SC in the presence/absence of two individual CPEs and their combination demonstrated that while ethanol lowers the free energy barrier for lidocaine to enter SC, LA decreases the depth of the free energy minima for lidocaine inside SC. These two effects supposedly result in synergistic penetration enhancement of drugs. Altogether, the present simulations provide a detailed molecular picture of CPEs’ action and their synergistic effect on the penetration of small molecular weight therapeutics that can be beneficial for the design of novel drug and cosmetics formulations.

scholarly journals Quantitative analysis of membrane-mediated interactions and aggregation of flexible peripheral proteins orchestrating large-scale membrane remodeling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohsen Sadeghi ◽  
Frank Noé
Keyword(s):  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Effective Interaction ◽  
Bilayer Membrane ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Membrane Remodeling ◽  
Coarse Grained Model ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
Peripheral Proteins ◽  
The Stability

Abstract Shaping and remodeling of biomembranes is essential for cellular trafficking, with membrane-binding peripheral proteins playing the key role in it. Significant membrane remodeling as in endo- and exocytosis is often due to clusters or aggregates of many proteins whose interactions may be direct or mediated via the membrane. While computer simulation could be an important tool to disentangle these interactions and understand what drives cooperative protein interactions in membrane remodeling, this has so far been extremely challenging: protein-membrane systems involve time- and lengthscales that make detailed atomistic simulations impractical, while most coarse-grained models lack the degree of detail needed to resolve the dynamics and physical effect of protein and membrane flexibility. Here, we develop a coarse-grained model of the bilayer membrane bestrewed with rotationally-symmetric flexible membrane-bound proteins. We show how this model can be parameterized based on local curvatures, protein flexibility, and the in-plane dynamics of proteins. We measure the effective interaction potential for the membrane-mediated interactions between peripheral proteins. Furthermore, we investigate the kinetics, equilibrium distributions, and the free energy landscape governing the formation and break-up of protein clusters on the surface of the membrane. We demonstrate how the flexibility of the protein plays a deciding role in highly selective macroscopic aggregation behavior. Finally, we present large-scale simulations of membrane tubulation, and discuss the sequence of events and the stability of intermediates.

scholarly journals Insights into Membrane Protein-Lipid Interactions from Free Energy Calculations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin A. Corey ◽  
Owen N. Vickery ◽  
Mark S. P. Sansom ◽  
Phillip J. Stansfeld
Keyword(s):  
Free Energy ◽  
Membrane Protein ◽  
Protein Structures ◽  
Potential Of Mean Force ◽  
Free Energy Calculations ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Computational Technique ◽  
Dynamic Simulations ◽  
Lipid Interactions ◽  
Energy Perturbation

AbstractIntegral membrane proteins are regulated by specific interactions with lipids from the surrounding bilayer. The structures of protein-lipid complexes can be determined through a combination of experimental and computational approaches, but the energetic basis of these interactions is difficult to resolve. Molecular dynamic simulations provide the primary computational technique to estimate the free energies of these interactions. We demonstrate that the energetics of protein-lipid interactions may be reliably and reproducibly calculated using three simulation-based approaches: potential of mean force calculations. alchemical free energy perturbation, and well-tempered metadynamics. We employ these techniques within the framework of a coarse-grained force field, and apply them to both bacterial and mammalian membrane protein-lipid systems. We demonstrate good agreement between the different techniques, providing a robust framework for their automated implementation within a pipeline for annotation of newly determined membrane protein structures.

System of thermodynamic quantities in the McMillan-Mayer solution theory

1985 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 791-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vilém Kodýtek
Keyword(s):  
Free Energy ◽  
Generating Function ◽  
Simple Form ◽  
Unit Volume ◽  
Thermodynamic Quantities ◽  
Solution Theory ◽  
Pure Solvent ◽  
Second Derivatives ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Derivatives Of

The McMillan-Mayer (MM) free energy per unit volume of solution AMM, is employed as a generating function of the MM system of thermodynamic quantities for solutions in the state of osmotic equilibrium with pure solvent. This system can be defined by replacing the quantities G, T, P, and m in the definition of the Lewis-Randall (LR) system by AMM, T, P0, and c (P0 being the pure solvent pressure). Following this way the LR to MM conversion relations for the first derivatives of the free energy are obtained in a simple form. New relations are derived for its second derivatives.

scholarly journals How proteins open fusion pores: insights from molecular simulations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Jelger Risselada ◽  
Helmut Grubmüller
Keyword(s):  
Free Energy ◽  
Fusion Proteins ◽  
Graphics Processing Units ◽  
Fusion Reaction ◽  
Molecular Simulations ◽  
Minimum Free Energy ◽  
Free Energy Calculations ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Fusion Pore ◽  
Graphics Processing

AbstractFusion proteins can play a versatile and involved role during all stages of the fusion reaction. Their roles go far beyond forcing the opposing membranes into close proximity to drive stalk formation and fusion. Molecular simulations have played a central role in providing a molecular understanding of how fusion proteins actively overcome the free energy barriers of the fusion reaction up to the expansion of the fusion pore. Unexpectedly, molecular simulations have revealed a preference of the biological fusion reaction to proceed through asymmetric pathways resulting in the formation of, e.g., a stalk-hole complex, rim-pore, or vertex pore. Force-field based molecular simulations are now able to directly resolve the minimum free-energy path in protein-mediated fusion as well as quantifying the free energies of formed reaction intermediates. Ongoing developments in Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), free energy calculations, and coarse-grained force-fields will soon gain additional insights into the diverse roles of fusion proteins.

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