Molecular dynamics simulations reliably identify vibrational modes in far-IR spectra of phospholipids

The properties of self-assembled phospholipid membranes are of essential importance in biochemistry and physical chemistry, providing a platform for many cellular life functions. Far-infrared (far-IR) vibrational spectroscopy, on the other hand, is a highly information-rich method to characterize intermolecular interactions and collective behaviour of lipids that can help explain, e.g., chain packing, thermodynamic phase behaviour, and sequestration. However, reliable interpretation of the far-IR spectra is still lacking. Here we present a molecular dynamics (MD) based approach to simulate vibrational modes of individual lipids and in an ensemble. The results are a good match to synchrotron far-IR measurements and enable identification of the molecular motions corresponding to each vibrational mode, thus allowing the correct interpretation of membrane spectra with high accuracy and resolving the longstanding ambiguities in the literature in this regard. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of using MD simulations for interpreting far-IR spectra broadly, opening new avenues for practical use of this powerful method.