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Identification of Fatty Acids in Bacillus cereus

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The effect of H

Evelyne Deplazes¹, David Poger², Bruce Cornell³

¹School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute and Curtin Institute for Computation, Curtin University, Perth, WA, 6845, Australia.

Biophysical Reviews

|September 17, 2018

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Hydronium ions (H3O+) impact phospholipid bilayers by altering lipid packing, reducing conductivity, and increasing thickness. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal H3O+ bonding to lipids drives these pH-induced structural changes.

Keywords:

Critical packing parameter H3O+Hydrogen bonding Molecular dynamics simulations Phospholipid bilayers

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Area of Science:

Biophysics
Physical Chemistry
Materials Science

Background:

Phospholipid bilayers are fundamental to cell membranes.
The effect of pH on membrane structure and function is crucial for biological processes.
Understanding ion-lipid interactions is key to membrane biophysics.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how hydronium ions (H3O+) influence phospholipid bilayer structure and ion permeability.
To elucidate the molecular mechanisms behind pH-induced changes in lipid membranes.
To correlate experimental findings with molecular dynamics simulations.

Main Methods:

Tethered bilayer lipid membranes with electrical impedance spectroscopy and neutron reflectometry.
Unrestrained molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of phosphatidylcholine lipid bilayers (multiple μs-long).
Analysis of lipid packing, membrane thickness, ion distribution, and hydrogen bonding.

Main Results:

Increased H3O+ concentration (lower pH) reduced membrane conductivity and increased thickness.
MD simulations showed concentration-dependent reduction in area per lipid and increased bilayer thickness.
H3O+ ions preferentially accumulated at the water-lipid interface, forming shorter, longer-lived hydrogen bonds with lipid headgroups.

Conclusions:

Hydronium ion (H3O+) interactions, particularly hydrogen bonding with phosphate and carbonyl oxygens, are the primary cause of pH-induced changes in phospholipid membrane lipid packing.
Molecular-level insights support experimental observations of altered membrane properties at different pH levels.
These findings advance the understanding of pH effects on biological membranes.