Understanding the function of membrane proteins using molecular dynamics simulations

Dr Antreas Kalli, University of Leeds. Part of the Physical Seminar Series

Title : Understanding the function of membrane proteins using molecular dynamics simulations

Biological membranes, which are comprised of membrane proteins and a complex mixture of lipids, play an important role in the physiology of cells. Advances in lipidomics and in membrane biophysics and biochemistry revealed that the diversity of lipids plays a key role in the physical and biological properties of cell membranes. At the same time developments in biomolecular simulations allows us to simulate increasing large and complex membrane systems.

In this talk, I will discuss how we use molecular dynamics simulations at the coarse-grained and atomistic resolutions to study the dynamics and interactions of membrane transport proteins and of signalling receptors in model membranes. In particular, I will discuss some of our recent studies in which we examined the interactions of the aforementioned membrane proteins with lipids and with other proteins in complex model membranes that resemble the native membranes in which these proteins function.