Dynamics of a lipid bilayer induced by electric fields.

Alessandro Venturini, Francesco Zerbetto

Institute for the Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity, National Research Council of Italy, via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy. A.Venturini@isof.cnr.it

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP 2011 May 28

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The dynamics of a lipid bilayer of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-glycero-3-phospho-ethanolamine, POPE, is investigated under the effect of two electric field intensities. The box of 720 lipids and 13,458 water molecules-plus boundary conditions-undergoes similar re-organizational dynamics in the presence of fields of 0.35 V nm(-1) and 0.5 V nm(-1). Water fingers form followed by some lipid translocation from one layer to the other. The re-organization kinetics is of the second order and is roughly 5 times faster at the higher field. The translocations may occur also upon field switch off, provided that their duration was sufficiently long. Driving few lipid translocations by a macroscopic tool, such as the electric field, appears possible. This journal is © the Owner Societies 2011

Citation

Alessandro Venturini, Francesco Zerbetto. Dynamics of a lipid bilayer induced by electric fields. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP. 2011 May 28;13(20):9216-22