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Raft formation in biological membranes: A molecular dynamics simulation study

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Biochemistry (Moscow) Supplement Series A: Membrane and Cell Biology Aims and scope

Abstract

Rafts are nanoscale domains in membranes rich with sphingomyelin and cholesterol. The process of raft formation was studied using molecular dynamics simulation method. The model membranes contained three types of lipids: cholesterol (CHOL), D-erythro-n-palmitoyl sphingomyelin (SM), and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (POPC). One of the model systems had an SM- and CHOL-enriched domain. It was shown that in this case raft domain spontaneously became thicker and passed from phase Ld to phase Lo. In another model system—a cubic box with mixed SM, CHOL, and POPC—a raft-free bilayer structure in Lo phase was formed. In the third system that had the same lipids mixed in the bilayer structure, a spontaneous formation of the raft was observed. The raft area was 72 nm2 and the content of CHOL and SM in the raft was 2.4- and 3-fold higher respectively than in the non-raft membrane.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biology Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie gory, 1, build. 73, Moscow, 119991, Russia

    M. E. Bozdaganyan & K. V. Shaitan

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  1. M. E. Bozdaganyan
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  2. K. V. Shaitan
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Correspondence to M. E. Bozdaganyan.

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Original Russian Text © M.E. Bozdaganyan, K.V. Shaitan, 2014, published in Biologicheskie Membrany, 2014, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 244–251.

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Bozdaganyan, M.E., Shaitan, K.V. Raft formation in biological membranes: A molecular dynamics simulation study. Biochem. Moscow Suppl. Ser. A 8, 290–296 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1990747814040035

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