1. Unraveling the Origin of the Apparent Charge of Zwitterionic Lipid Layers
- Author
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Douwe Jan Bonthuis, Lisa B. Dreier, Roland R. Netz, Mischa Bonn, Amanuel Wolde-Kidan, Ellen H. G. Backus, IoP (FNWI), and Soft Matter (WZI, IoP, FNWI)
- Subjects
Lipid Bilayers ,Static Electricity ,02 engineering and technology ,Molecular Dynamics Simulation ,010402 general chemistry ,01 natural sciences ,Molecular dynamics ,zwitterionic lipid layers ,Amphiphile ,500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::540 Chemie::541 Physikalische Chemie ,Molecule ,General Materials Science ,Physical and Theoretical Chemistry ,Membrane surface ,Spectroscopy ,Molecular Structure ,Chemistry ,water molecules ,Water ,Hydrogen Bonding ,Charge (physics) ,Biological membrane ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,apparent charge ,0104 chemical sciences ,Membrane ,Chemical physics ,Phosphatidylcholines ,lipids (amino acids, peptides, and proteins) ,0210 nano-technology - Abstract
The structure of water molecules in contact with zwitterionic lipid molecules is of great biological relevance, because biological membranes are largely composed of such lipids. The interaction of the interfacial water molecules with the amphiphilic lipid molecules drives the formation of membranes and greatly influences various processes at the membrane surface, as the field that arises from the aligned interfacial water molecules masks the charges of the lipid headgroups from the approaching metabolites. To increase our understanding of the influence of water molecules on biological processes we study their structure at the interface using sum-frequency generation spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations. Interestingly, we find that water molecules at zwitterionic lipid molecules are mainly oriented by the field arising between the two oppositely charged molecular moieties within the lipid headgroups. more...
- Published
- 2019
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