Free energies of membrane stalk formation from a lipidomics perspective

Chetan S. Poojari, Katharina C. Scherer and Jochen S. Hub ()
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Chetan S. Poojari: Theoretical Physics and Center for Biophysics, Saarland University
Katharina C. Scherer: Theoretical Physics and Center for Biophysics, Saarland University
Jochen S. Hub: Theoretical Physics and Center for Biophysics, Saarland University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Many biological membranes are asymmetric and exhibit complex lipid composition, comprising hundreds of distinct chemical species. Identifying the biological function and advantage of this complexity is a central goal of membrane biology. Here, we study how membrane complexity controls the energetics of the first steps of membrane fusions, that is, the formation of a stalk. We first present a computationally efficient method for simulating thermodynamically reversible pathways of stalk formation at coarse-grained resolution. The method reveals that the inner leaflet of a typical plasma membrane is far more fusogenic than the outer leaflet, which is likely an adaptation to evolutionary pressure. To rationalize these findings by the distinct lipid compositions, we computed ~200 free energies of stalk formation in membranes with different lipid head groups, tail lengths, tail unsaturations, and sterol content. In summary, the simulations reveal a drastic influence of the lipid composition on stalk formation and a comprehensive fusogenicity map of many biologically relevant lipid classes.

Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-26924-2

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26924-2

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