title: Contribution of omega-3 fatty acids to the thermodynamics of membrane protein solvation.
abstract: Recent NMR experiments and molecular dynamics simulations have indicated that rhodopsin is preferentially solvated by omega-3 fatty acids compared to saturated chains. However, to date no physical theory has been advanced to explain this phenomenon. The present work presents a novel thermodynamic explanation for this preferential solvation based on statistical analysis of 26,100 ns all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of rhodopsin in membranes rich in polyunsaturated chains. The results indicate that the preferential solvation by omega-3 chains is entropically driven; all chains experience an entropic penalty when associating with the protein, but the penalty is significantly larger for saturated chains.
authors: Alan
authors: A
authors: Grossfield
authors: Scott E
authors: SE
authors: Feller
authors: Michael C
authors: MC
authors: Pitman