1.School of Sciences,Zhejiang A & F University,Lin’an,China;2.Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Utilization of Forestry Biomass,Zhejiang A & F University,Lin’an,China
Abstract:
The lateral pressure exerted on cell membrane is of great importance to signal transduction. Here, we perform molecular dynamics simulation to explore how lateral pressure affects the biophysical properties of lipid bilayer as well as nitrogen distribution in the membrane. Our results show that both physical properties of cell membrane and nitrogen distribution are highly sensitive to the lateral pressure. With the increasing lateral pressure, area per lipid drops and thickness of membrane increases obviously, while nitrogen molecules are more congested in the center of lipid bilayer than those under lower lateral pressure. These results suggest that the mechanism of nitrogen narcosis may be related to the lateral pressure.
Graphical Abstract (a) Schematic illustration of pressure exerted on the membrane. Carbon (cyan), oxygen (red), nitrogen (blue) and phosphorous (tan) in head groups are shown by using big spheres, while the lipid tails are shown as dynamicbonds. Nitrogen molecules are depicted as the yellow balls. Water molecules are omitted for clarity. (b) Probability density of the z direction of nitrogen molecules, where the z axis is normal to the lipid bilayer. The center of the lipid bilayer is fixed at z?=?0 nm
