title: The molecular face of lipid rafts in model membranes.
abstract: Cell membranes contain a large number of different lipid species. Such a multicomponent mixture exhibits a complex phase behavior with regions of structural and compositional heterogeneity. Especially domains formed in ternary mixtures, composed of saturated and unsaturated lipids together with cholesterol, have received a lot of attention as they may resemble raft formation in real cells. Here we apply a simulation model to assess the molecular nature of these domains at the nanoscale, information that has thus far eluded experimental determination. We are able to show the spontaneous separation of a saturated phosphatidylcholine (PC)/unsaturated PC/cholesterol mixture into a liquid-ordered and a liquid-disordered phase with structural and dynamic properties closely matching experimental data. The near-atomic resolution of the simulations reveals remarkable features of both domains and the boundary domain interface. Furthermore, we predict the existence of a small surface tension between the monolayer leaflets that drives registration of the domains. At the level of molecular detail, raft-like lipid mixtures show a surprising face with possible implications for many cell membrane processes.
authors.affiliation: Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H Jelger
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Risselada
authors.forename: Siewert J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Marrink
mesh_terms: D002784:Cholesterol / Q000737:chemistry; D003198:Computer Simulation; D021962:Membrane Microdomains / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008958:Models, Molecular
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol