title: On the electroporation thresholds of lipid bilayers: molecular dynamics simulation investigations.
abstract: Electroporation relates to the cascade of events that follows the application of high electric fields and that leads to cell membrane permeabilization. Despite a wide range of applications, little is known about the electroporation threshold, which varies with membrane lipid composition. Here, using molecular dynamics simulations, we studied the response of dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine, diphytanoyl-phosphocholine-ester and diphytanoyl-phosphocholine-ether lipid bilayers to an applied electric field. Comparing between lipids with acyl chains and methyl branched chains and between lipids with ether and ester linkages, which change drastically the membrane dipole potential, we found that in both cases the electroporation threshold differed substantially. We show, for the first time, that the electroporation threshold of a lipid bilayer depends not only on the "electrical" properties of the membrane, i.e., its dipole potential, but also on the properties of its component hydrophobic tails.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Tržaška cesta 25, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia, andraz.polak@fe.uni-lj.si.
authors.forename: Andraž
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Polak
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bonhenry
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dehez
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kramar
authors.forename: Damijan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miklavčič
authors.forename: Mounir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tarek
mesh_terms: D015060:1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine / Q000737:chemistry; D025802:Electric Capacitance; D018274:Electroporation; D004952:Esters; D004987:Ethers / Q000737:chemistry; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000737:chemistry; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D004952:Esters; D004987:Ethers; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D015060:1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine; C021016:1,2-diphytanoylphosphatidylcholine