Phase-transition properties of glycerol-dipalmitate lipid bilayers investigated using molecular dynamics simulation.

The phase- and phase-transition properties of glycerol-dipalmitate (GDP) bilayer patches are investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. This permits to characterize the influence of introducing a second aliphatic lipid tail by comparison to previously reported simulations of glycerol-1-monopalmitate (GMP). To this purpose, a set of 67 simulations (up to 300ns duration) of 2×8×8GDP bilayer patches are performed, considering the two GDP isomers glycerol-1,3-dipalmitate (13GDP) and glycerol-1,2-dipalmitate (12GDP; racemic), two hydration levels (12GDP only), and temperatures in the range 250-370K.

Effect of methanol on the phase-transition properties of glycerol-monopalmitate lipid bilayers investigated using molecular dynamics simulations: in quest of the biphasic effect.

The effect of methanol on the phase and phase-transition properties of a 2×8×8 glycerol-1-monopalmitate bilayer patch is investigated using a series of 239 molecular dynamics simulations on the 180 ns timescale, considering methanol concentrations cM and temperatures T in the ranges 0-12.3M and 302-338 K, respectively. The results in the form of hysteresis-corrected transition temperatures Tm are compatible with the expected features of the biphasic effect, with a reversal concentration crev of about 5.

Long-timescale motions in glycerol-monopalmitate lipid bilayers investigated using molecular dynamics simulation.

The occurrence of long-timescale motions in glycerol-1-monopalmitate (GMP) lipid bilayers is investigated based on previously reported 600 ns molecular dynamics simulations of a 2×8×8 GMP bilayer patch in the temperature range 302-338 K, performed at three different hydration levels, or in the presence of the cosolutes methanol or trehalose at three different concentrations. The types of long-timescale motions considered are: (i) the possible phase transitions; (ii) the precession of the relative collective tilt-angle of the two leaflets in the gel phase; (iii) the trans-gauche isomerization of the dihedral angles within the lipid aliphatic tails; and (iv) the flipping of single lipids across the two leaflets. The results provide a picture of GMP bilayers involving a rich spectrum of events occurring on a wide range of timescales, from the 100-ps range isomerization of single dihedral angles, via the 100-ns range of tilt precession motions, to the multi-μs range of phase transitions and lipid-flipping events.

Effect of the cosolutes trehalose and methanol on the equilibrium and phase-transition properties of glycerol-monopalmitate lipid bilayers investigated using molecular dynamics simulations.

The influence of the cosolutes trehalose and methanol on the structural, dynamic and thermodynamic properties of a glycerol-1-monopalmitate (GMP) bilayer and on its main transition temperature [Formula: see text] is investigated using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations (600 ns) of a GMP bilayer patch (2 × 8 × 8 lipids) at different temperatures in the range of 302 to 338 K and considering three different cosolute concentrations. Depending on the environment and temperature, these simulations present no or a single GL[Formula: see text]LC, LC[Formula: see text]GL or LC[Formula: see text]ID transition, where LC, GL and ID are the liquid crystal, gel and interdigitated phases, respectively. The trehalose molecules form a coating layer at the bilayer surface, promote the hydrogen-bonded bridging of the lipid headgroups, preserve the interaction of the headgroups with trapped water and induce a slight lateral expansion of the bilayer in the LC phase, observations that may have implications for the phenomenon of anhydrobiosis.

Entropy from state probabilities: hydration entropy of cations.

Entropy is an important energetic quantity determining the progression of chemical processes. We propose a new approach to obtain hydration entropy directly from probability density functions in state space. We demonstrate the validity of our approach for a series of cations in aqueous solution.