The interaction and orientation of Peptide KL in model membranes.

We report on the orientation and location of synthetic pulmonary surfactant peptide KL, (KLLLL)K, in model lipid membranes. The partitioning depths of selectively deuterated leucine residues within KL were determined in DPPC:POPG (4:1) and POPC:POPG (4:1) bilayers by oriented neutron diffraction. These measurements were combined with an NMR-generated model of the peptide structure to determine the orientation and partitioning of the peptide at the lipid-water interface.

DNA surface exploration and operator bypassing during target search.

Many proteins that bind specific DNA sequences search the genome by combining three-dimensional diffusion with one-dimensional sliding on nonspecific DNA. Here we combine resonance energy transfer and fluorescence correlation measurements to characterize how individual lac repressor (LacI) molecules explore the DNA surface during the one-dimensional phase of target search. To track the rotation of sliding LacI molecules on the microsecond timescale, we use real-time single-molecule confocal laser tracking combined with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (SMCT-FCS).

Testing High Concentrations of Membrane Active Antibiotic Chlorhexidine Via Computational Titration and Calorimetry.

Coarse-grained strategies for membrane simulations are designed to increase efficiency for larger and more complex molecular dynamics simulations. For membrane active antibiotics, the concentration dependence of their action presents a tremendous challenge in simulation scale. In this study, we examine the effects of concentration for the popular membrane active antibacterial drug chlorhexidine.

Vitamin E Circular Dichroism Studies: Insights into Conformational Changes Induced by the Solvent's Polarity.

We used circular dichroism (CD) to study differences in CD spectra between -, -, and methylated--tocopherol in solvents with different polarities. CD spectra of the different tocopherol structures differ from each other in intensity and peak locations, which can be attributed to chromanol substitution and the ability to form hydrogen bonds. In addition, each structure was examined in different polarity solvents using the Reichardt index-a measure of the solvent's ionizing ability, and a direct measurement of solvent-solute interactions.

Lipid bilayer thickness determines cholesterol's location in model membranes.

Cholesterol is an essential biomolecule of animal cell membranes, and an important precursor for the biosynthesis of certain hormones and vitamins. It is also thought to play a key role in cell signaling processes associated with functional plasma membrane microdomains (domains enriched in cholesterol), commonly referred to as rafts. In all of these diverse biological phenomena, the transverse location of cholesterol in the membrane is almost certainly an important structural feature.

A MARTINI extension for Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 lipopolysaccharide.

We report a course-grained, large scale simulation of the outer membrane from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Using the MARTINI force field approach of 4-to-1 atom mapping, we simulate an asymmetrically constructed bilayer with over 1100 rough lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and 3100 16:0-18:1-phosphatidylethanolamine. We achieve 90-fold improvement in computational efficiency on a system much larger than reasonable for all-atom simulation.

Molecular structures of fluid phosphatidylethanolamine bilayers obtained from simulation-to-experiment comparisons and experimental scattering density profiles.

Following our previous efforts in determining the structures of commonly used PC, PG, and PS bilayers, we continue our studies of fully hydrated, fluid phase PE bilayers. The newly designed parsing scheme for PE bilayers was based on extensive MD simulations, and is utilized in the SDP analysis of both X-ray and neutron (contrast varied) scattering measurements. Obtained experimental scattering form factors are directly compared to our simulation results, and can serve as a benchmark for future developed force fields.

Small molecule interaction with lipid bilayers: a molecular dynamics study of chlorhexidine.

Chlorhexidine (CHX) is an effective anti-bacterial agent whose mode of action is thought to be the disruption of the cell membrane. We tested the capability of the Slipids all atom force fields using data from neutron scattering and NMR experiments on the drug chlorhexidine in a 1,2-dimyrisoyl-3-sn-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) membrane. Since it is not known what the charge of the CHX molecule is inside an apolar environment, a neutral, as well as a +1 and +2 charge model for the molecule were created and tested at several concentrations.