A comparison of DMPC- and DLPE-based lipid bilayers

A 250 ps molecular dynamics simulation of the dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC)-based lipid bilayer, including explicit water molecules, is reported. The solvent environment of the head groups and other structural properties of the bilayer have been analyzed and compared with experimental results as well as our previous simulation of the dilauroylphosphatidylethanolamine (DLPE)-based bilayer. From this comparison we find that the solvent structure around the DMPC head group (clathrate shell) is significantly different than that around the DLPE head group (typical hydrogen bonding interactions). We have modeled the probable relationship between the different solvent environments around the R-N(CH3)3+ (DMPC) and R-NH3+ (DLPE) head groups and the different interlammelar distances in these systems by performing potential of mean force (PMF) simulations on two N(CH3)4+ and NH4+ ions in water. From the PMF simulations it appears that the differences in the hydration of the DMPC and DLPE head groups is not responsible for the differences in the hydration force observed for these systems. We also find that the orientational polarization of DLPE and DMPC is similar, which suggests that solvent polarization is not responsible for the differences in the hydration repulsion behavior observed in these systems. We also examined the order parameters for DMPC and found them to be in reasonable agreement with experiment. Given the different characteristics of the DLPE and DMPC head groups, we suggest an explanation of the differences in the interlammellar spacings of bilayers composed of these like-charged lipids. From our DLPE simulations we find that the R-NH3+ head groups can interact with the nonesterified oxygens of the phosphate group in an intraleaflet or an interleaflet manner. For the latter a "cross link" between two leaflets can be formed, which causes a stabilization of the interlamellar spacings at fairly short distances. Moreover, due to the strong intraleaflet interaction we find that the DLPE interface is relatively "flat" (as opposed to DMPC-based bilayers), which results in a surface that has regions of positive and negative charge that reside in the same plane along the bilayer normal. Based on this we propose that the DLPE bilayer interface can correlate itself with another DLPE interface by alignment of the regions of positive (or negative) charge on one leaflet with the opposite charges on the opposing leaflet.