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Liposomes, Exosomes, and Virosomes: From Modeling Complex
Membrane Processes to Medical Diagnostics and Drug Delivery
Poster Abstracts
72
61-POS
Board 31
Peptide Features Determining Its Translocation and Pore Formation
Ivo Kabelka
1
, Daan Frenkel
2
,
Robert Vacha
1
.
1
Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic,
2
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United
Kingdom.
Amphiphilic peptides can interact with phospholipid membrane and severely affect its barrier
function by translocation or pore formation. This is particularly important for antimicrobial and
cell-penetrating peptides as it can determine their lethalness or ability to act as drug delivery
systems against bacteria or pathological cells. However, the necessary peptide properties and
conditions for membrane translocation and pore formation are not well understood. Using
coarse-grained simulations, we have calculated the free energy of pore formation and
translocation of amphiphilic helical peptides under various conditions. We found that the most
effective in pore formation are peptides with length similar to membrane thickness. Moreover,
the preferred peptide orientation in the pore and during the translocation was found to agree well
with the hydrophobic mismatch rationalization. Long peptides were thus observed to orient
parallel to membrane plane forming a ‘double-belt’ pore. The obtained understanding of peptide
behavior at the membrane may be useful for the rational design of peptides that are more
effective and specific against given target cells or bacteria.
64-POS
Board 32
Simulation of Nanoparticle-Membrane Interaction
Xianren Zhang
,
Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, China.
Nanoparticles are widely used in biomedical fields, such as gene and drug delivery, nanoparticle-
based sensing and imaging etc. In these applications, the efficient uptake of nanoparticles (NPs)
into cells becomes a critical issue, because NPs are required to be capable of transporting
through cell membranes. On the other hand, nanoparticles adhering on cells may cause damage
to cell membranes and induce adverse biological effects, with the potential to create cytotoxicity.
In this regard, understanding of the mechanism of NP uptake is essential to bio-applications of
nanoparticles. I will summarize our recent simulation works on the interaction between cell
membrane and nanoparticles are addressed. The internalization pathways of nanoparticles,
including endocytosis and penetration, depends on the size, shape and rigidness of nanoparticles.