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Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Thermodynamics of Membrane Protein Folding Measured by Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Published on: April 28, 2011
Statistical thermodynamics of biomembranes
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Louisiana State University, 2508 Patrick F. Taylor Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. devireddy@me.lsu.edu
Abstract:
An overview of the major issues involved in the statistical thermodynamic treatment of phospholipid membranes at the atomistic level is summarized: thermodynamic ensembles, initial configuration (or the physical system being modeled), force field representation as well as the representation of long-range interactions. This is followed by a description of the various ways that the simulated ensembles can be analyzed: area of the lipid, mass density profiles, radial distribution functions (RDFs), water orientation profile, deuterium order parameter, free energy profiles and void (pore) formation; with particular focus on the results obtained from our recent molecular dynamic (MD) simulations of phospholipids interacting with dimethylsulfoxide (Me(2)SO), a commonly used cryoprotective agent (CPA).
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