Open Access

REVIEW

Enhanced sampling for lipid-protein interactions during membrane dynamics

DIEGO MASONE^1,2,*

1 Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza (IHEM)-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, 5500, Argentina
2 Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, 5500, Argentina

* Corresponding Author: DIEGO MASONE. Email:

BIOCELL 2023, 47(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2023.024146

Received 25 May 2022; Accepted 12 July 2022; Issue published 26 September 2022

Abstract

The inflexible concept of membrane curvature as an independent property of lipid structures is today obsolete. Lipid bilayers behave as many-body entities with emergent properties that depend on their interactions with the environment. In particular, proteins exert crucial actions on lipid molecules that ultimately condition the collective properties of the membranes. In this review, the potential of enhanced molecular dynamics to address cell-biology problems is discussed. The cases of membrane deformation, membrane fusion, and the fusion pore are analyzed from the perspective of the dimensionality reduction by collective variables. Coupled lipid-protein interactions as fundamental determinants of large membrane remodeling events are also commented. Finally, novel strategies merging cell biology and physics are considered as future lines of research.

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Keywords

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