Communication: consistent picture of lateral subdiffusion in lipid bilayers: molecular dynamics simulation and exact results.
This communication presents a molecular dynamics simulation study of a bilayer consisting of 128 dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine molecules, which focusses on the center-of-mass diffusion of the lipid molecules parallel to the membrane plane. The analysis of the simulation results is performed within the framework of the generalized Langevin equation and leads to a consistent picture of subdiffusion. The mean square displacement of the lipid molecules evolves as ∝ t(α), with α between 0.5 and 0.6, and the fractional diffusion coefficient is close to the experimental value for a similar system obtained by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. We show that the long-time tails of the lateral velocity autocorrelation function and the associated memory function agree well with exact results which have been recently derived by asymptotic analysis [G. Kneller, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 224106 (2011)]. In this context, we define characteristic time scales for these two quantities.
Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire, CNRS, Rue Charles Sadron, 45071 Orléans, France. gerald.kneller@cnrs-orleans.fr
Gerald R
GR
Kneller
Krzysztof
K
Baczynski
Marta
M
Pasenkiewicz-Gierula
D004058:Diffusion; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000737:chemistry*
D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; C017251:1,2-oleoylphosphatidylcholine