中国物理B ›› 2020, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (3): 30505-030505.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/ab7187

• SPECIAL TOPIC—Recent advances in thermoelectric materials and devices • 上一篇    下一篇

Hexagonal arrangement of phospholipids in bilayer membranes

Xiao-Wei Chen(陈晓伟), Ming-Xia Yuan(元明霞), Han Guo(郭晗), Zhi Zhu(朱智)   

  1. Terahertz Technology Innovation Research Institute, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Modern Optical System, Terahertz Science Cooperative Innovation Center, School of Optical-Electrical Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
  • 收稿日期:2019-12-11 修回日期:2020-01-20 出版日期:2020-03-05 发布日期:2020-03-05
  • 通讯作者: Zhi Zhu E-mail:zhuzhi@usst.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11904231), the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant Nos. 2018YFE0205501 and 2018YFB1801500), and Shanghai Sailing Program, China (Grant No. 19YF1434100).

Hexagonal arrangement of phospholipids in bilayer membranes

Xiao-Wei Chen(陈晓伟), Ming-Xia Yuan(元明霞), Han Guo(郭晗), Zhi Zhu(朱智)   

  1. Terahertz Technology Innovation Research Institute, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Modern Optical System, Terahertz Science Cooperative Innovation Center, School of Optical-Electrical Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
  • Received:2019-12-11 Revised:2020-01-20 Online:2020-03-05 Published:2020-03-05
  • Contact: Zhi Zhu E-mail:zhuzhi@usst.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11904231), the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant Nos. 2018YFE0205501 and 2018YFB1801500), and Shanghai Sailing Program, China (Grant No. 19YF1434100).

摘要: The phospholipid membrane plays a key role in myriad biological processes and phenomena, and the arrangement structure of membrane determines its function. However, the molecular arrangement structure of phospholipids in cell membranes is difficult to detect experimentally. On the basis of molecular dynamic simulations both in a non-destructive way and at native environment, we observed and confirmed that the phospholipids self-assemble to a hexagonal arrangement structure under physiological conditions. The underlying mechanism was revealed to be that there are hexagonal arrangement regions with a lower free energy around each lipid molecule. The findings potentially advance the understanding of biological functions of phospholipid bilayers.

关键词: phospholipid bilayer, bio-membrane structure, molecular dynamic simulation, self-assemble

Abstract: The phospholipid membrane plays a key role in myriad biological processes and phenomena, and the arrangement structure of membrane determines its function. However, the molecular arrangement structure of phospholipids in cell membranes is difficult to detect experimentally. On the basis of molecular dynamic simulations both in a non-destructive way and at native environment, we observed and confirmed that the phospholipids self-assemble to a hexagonal arrangement structure under physiological conditions. The underlying mechanism was revealed to be that there are hexagonal arrangement regions with a lower free energy around each lipid molecule. The findings potentially advance the understanding of biological functions of phospholipid bilayers.

Key words: phospholipid bilayer, bio-membrane structure, molecular dynamic simulation, self-assemble

中图分类号:  (Classical statistical mechanics)

  • 05.20.-y
05.70.Np (Interface and surface thermodynamics) 83.10.Rs (Computer simulation of molecular and particle dynamics) 87.14.Cc (Lipids)