2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Atomistic molecular dynamics simulation analysis of molecular physiological problems involving ion channel activity regulation
Project/Area Number |
21590241
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
Section | 一般 |
Research Field |
General physiology
|
Research Institution | Teikyo University |
Principal Investigator |
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Project Period (FY) |
2009 – 2011
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Keywords | 生体膜 / チャネル / トランスポーター / 脂質ラフト / 計算化学 / 脂質膜融合 / 分子動力学 |
Research Abstract |
To gain insight into structure-function relationship of Kv channel and other physiological issues, molecular dynamics(MD) simulations were conducted. Atomistic details regarding Kv channel closing mechanism were revealed. We also applied coarse-grained MD simulations to curved membranes, in particular, hemifusion-mimicking membrane systems. The latter analysis showed that lipids with a high degree of negative spontaneous curvature tend to be enriched at the junction of the bilayers that is highly curved. We also showed that cholesterol-dependent formation of lipid microdomains proceeds under strong influence of membrane curvature. The possibility that such curvature dependent localization of microdomains may contribute to the intracellular lipid sorting was discussed.
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