Monte Carlo calculations of order parameter profiles in models of lipid-protein interactions in bilayers

The Monte Carlo method has been utilized to calculate lipid chain order parameters in model monomolecular layers (half-bilayers) containing several different model polypeptides. The systems all consist of a periodic array of identical cells, each containing 35 hydrocarbon chains and 1 "perturbant" (a small model polypeptide or protein). The lipid chains are each 10 CH2 subunits long, have one end constrained to lie in the bilayer plane, and interact via van der Waals forces between all subunits. The chains also interact with the perturbant via van der Waals forces. With standard Monte Carlo procedures order parameter profiles are calculated for chains that are close to the perturbant and for the nonneighboring chains. In order to examine a wide range of possibilities, several different model polypeptides are considered: (i) a rigid smooth cylinder, (ii) a cylinder with identical side chains at alpha-helical positions, (iii) a cylinder with nonidentical side chains at alpha-helical positions, and (iv) a cylinder identical with (ii) but which only extends about halfway through the monolayer. Although results differ for the different systems studied, in all cases only slight conformational differences between the bulk chains and the chains that are nearest the perturbants are found, and it is not possible to characterize the boundary chains as "more ordered" or "less ordered" than the nonboundary chains.