Sterol flip-flop in a lipid bilayer

A movie of a ketosterol molecule undergoing a flip-flop in a lipid bilayer. To our knowledge this is the first time a sterol flip-flop has been seen in a simulation.

Ketosterol is a biological molecule which has a structure similar to cholesterol except that cholesterol's hydroxyl headgroup is replaced by a ketone group.

Reference:

1. Replacing the cholesterol hydroxyl group by the ketone group facilitates sterol flip-flop and promotes membrane fluidity, T. Rog, L.M. Stimson, M. Pasenkiewicz-Gierula, I. Vattulainen, M. Karttunen, J. Phys. Chem. B. 112 1946-1952 (2008). http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp075078h

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• softsimu
• ketosterol
• molecular dynamics
• computer simulation
• biophysics
• cholesterol

[Karlosman15]

Nice! :)

[sb2jan]

Thank you =]