Self-assembly of lamellar lipid-DNA complexes simulated by explicit solvent counterion model

The dissipative particle dynamics simulations with explicit solvent and counterions are used to mimic the self-assembly of lamellar cationic lipid-DNA (CL-DNA)complexes. We found that the formation of the complexes is associated with the releasing of 70% DNA counterions and 90% lipid counterions. The trapped DNA and CL charges together with their counterions inside the complex still keep the interior neutral, which stabilized the structure. Simulations in constant pressure ensemble following the self-assembly show that the DNA interaxial spacing as a function of the inversed CL concentrations 1/phi(c) is linear at low phi(c) and nonlinear at high phi(c). The attraction between the DNA and the CLs as well as the repulsion between the DNA strands impose stretching stress on the membrane so that the averaged area per lipid is dependent on the CL concentration, which in turn determines the behavior of the DNA spacing.