Charge pairing of headgroups in phosphatidylcholine membranes: A molecular dynamics simulation study

Molecular dynamics simulation of the hydrated dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) bilayer membrane in the liquid-crystalline phase was carried out for 5 ns to study the interaction among DMPC headgroups in the membrane/water interface region. The phosphatidylcholine headgroup contains a positively charged choline group and negatively charged phosphate and carbonyl groups, although it is a neutral molecule as a whole. Our previous study (Pasenkiewicz-Gierula, M., Y. Takaoka, H. Miyagawa, K. Kitamura, and A. Kusumi. 1997. J. Phys. Chem. 101:3677-3691) showed the formation of water cross-bridges between negatively charged groups in which a water molecule is simultaneously hydrogen bonded to two DMPC molecules. Water bridges link 76% of DMPC molecules in the membrane. In the present study we show that relatively stable charge associations (charge pairs) are formed between the positively and negatively charged groups of two DMPC molecules. Charge pairs link 93% of DMPC molecules in the membrane. Water bridges and charge pairs together form an extended network of interactions among DMPC headgroups linking 98% of all membrane phospholipids. The average lifetimes of DMPC-DMPC associations via charge pairs, water bridges and both, are at least 730, 1400, and over 1500 ps, respectively. However, these associations are dynamic states and they break and re-form several times during their lifetime.