To gain a better understanding of how ethanol affects biological membranes, we have performed a series of atomic-scale molecular dynamics simulations of phospholipid membranes in aqueous solution with ethanol, whose concentration was varied from 2.5 to 30 mol % (lipid-free basis). At concentrations below the threshold value of approximately 12 mol % (30.5 v/v %) ethanol induces expansion of the...

The free energy difference associated with the transfer of a single cholesterol molecule from the aqueous phase into a lipid bilayer depends on its final location, namely on its insertion depth and orientation within the bilayer. We calculated desolvation and lipid bilayer perturbation contributions to the water-to-membrane transfer free energy, thus allowing us to determine the most favorable ...

The T cell plasma membrane lipid bilayer attracts the attention of immunologists as fundamental two-dimensional platform for molecular networks which mediate T cell antigen receptor (TCR) activation responses. Plasma membrane lipids critically influence formation and activity of signaling networks linked to the T cell plasma membrane. This opinion article outlines recent advances in understandi...

We describe the binding of proteins to lipid bilayers in the case for which binding can occur either by adsorption to the lipid bilayer membrane-water interface or by direct insertion into the bilayer itself. We examine in particular the case when the insertion and pore formation are driven by the adsorption process using scaled particle theory. The adsorbed proteins form a two-dimensional "sur...

With few exceptions, membrane lipids are usually regarded as a kind of filler or passive solvent for membrane proteins. Yet, cells exquisitely control membrane composition. Many phospholipids found in plasma membrane bilayers favor packing into inverted hexagonal bulk phases. It was suggested that the strain of forcing such lipids into a bilayer may affect membrane protein function, such as the...

An important goal in synthetic biology is the assembly of biomimetic cell-like structures, which combine multiple biological components in synthetic lipid vesicles. A key limiting assembly step is the incorporation of membrane proteins into the lipid bilayer of the vesicles. Here we present a simple method for delivery of membrane proteins into a lipid bilayer within 5 min. Fusogenic proteolipo...

An understanding of the interactions of membrane proteins with a lipid bilayer environment is central to relating their structure to their function and stability. A high-throughput approach to prediction of membrane protein interactions with a lipid bilayer based on coarse-grained Molecular Dynamics simulations is described. This method has been used to develop a database of CG simulations (coa...

The pH low-insertion peptide (pHLIP) serves as a model system for peptide insertion and folding across a lipid bilayer. It has three general states: (I) soluble in water or (II) bound to the surface of a lipid bilayer as an unstructured monomer, and (III) inserted across the bilayer as a monomeric alpha-helix. We used fluorescence spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry to study the i...

The cell membrane is an ordered environment, which anisotropically affects the structure and interactions of all of its molecules. Monitoring membrane orientation at a local level is rather challenging but could reward crucial information on protein conformation and interactions in the lipid bilayer. We monitored local lipid ordering changes upon varying the cholesterol concentration using pola...

Fused or giant vesicles, planar lipid bilayers, a droplet membrane system, and planar-supported membranes have been developed to incorporate membrane proteins for the electrical and biophysical analysis of such proteins or the bilayer properties. However, it remains difficult to incorporate membrane proteins, including ion channels, into reconstituted membrane systems that allow easy control of...