The complexity of membranes is further increased by the membrane asymmetry, that is, by distinct lipid compositions in the two leaflets. In summary, the simulations reveal a drastic influence of the lipid composition on stalk formation and a comprehensive fusogenicity map of many biologically relevant lipid classes.Įukaryotic cellular membranes contain more than ten lipid classes, while each class comprises hundreds of different chemical species 1, 2. To rationalize these findings by the distinct lipid compositions, we computed ~200 free energies of stalk formation in membranes with different lipid head groups, tail lengths, tail unsaturations, and sterol content. The method reveals that the inner leaflet of a typical plasma membrane is far more fusogenic than the outer leaflet, which is likely an adaptation to evolutionary pressure. We first present a computationally efficient method for simulating thermodynamically reversible pathways of stalk formation at coarse-grained resolution. Here, we study how membrane complexity controls the energetics of the first steps of membrane fusions, that is, the formation of a stalk.
Identifying the biological function and advantage of this complexity is a central goal of membrane biology.
Many biological membranes are asymmetric and exhibit complex lipid composition, comprising hundreds of distinct chemical species.
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