Molecular dynamics simulations of pore formation in stretched phospholipid/cholesterol bilayers

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of pore formation in stretched dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayers containing different concentrations of cholesterol (0, 20, 40, and 60 mol%) are presented. The stretched bilayers were simulated by constant NPZA||T MD simulations with various constant areas. The effects of the cholesterol concentration on pore formation are examined in terms of the critical areal strain where the pore is formed, the processes of pore formation, and the change in molecular orientation of the DPPC molecules by analyzing the order parameters and radial distribution functions of the DPPC molecules. With increasing cholesterol concentration, the critical areal strain initially increases, peaks at 40 mol%, and then decreases, which agrees well with the available experimental data. For the bilayers containing cholesterol, DPPC molecules become disordered at low areal strains, whereas the order slightly increases when the areal strain exceeds a certain value depending on the cholesterol concentration. For 40 mol% cholesterol, the two monolayers in the bilayer interpenetrate under high areal strains, inducing an increase of the order parameters and the peak positions of the radial distribution function compared with their states at low areal strains, indicating the formation of an interdigitated gel-phase-like structure. The transient increasing of the order of the molecular orientations may inhibit water penetration into the bilayer, resulting in increased critical areal strain in the phospholipid/cholesterol bilayers.