New Publication: Proteins Alter the Stiffness of Membranes Philip Fowler, 23rd September 201629th September 2018 0 shares Although there have been many studies of proteins whose primary function is to ‘sculpt’ the surface of membranes e.g. BAR domains, there have been very few investigations of what effect regular membrane proteins have on the stiffness of membranes. Here we show via very large simulations, using the MARTINI coarse-grained forcefield, that ‘regular’ integral membrane proteins, such as an ion channel or a beta-barrel, reduce the stiffness of the membrane, leading to larger fluctuations. The systems studied push the boundaries of what is currently achievable with biomolecular simulation, containing around 50,000 lipids and 100 proteins. We had access to the French supercomputer CURIE, through the EU PRACE network, for this work. This is the second in a set of three papers that bring my research on cell signalling and membranes in the SBCB group within the Department of Biochemistry to a close and is available to download here. Share this:Twitter Related publication research
antimicrobial resistance Research position advertised 26th January 202126th January 2021 Come and work with me on antimicrobial resistance! Advert here. Broadly the idea is to… Share this:Twitter Read More
molecular dynamics New Publication: Alchembed 12th June 2015 In much of my research I’ve looked at how proteins embedded in cell membranes behave. An… Share this:Twitter Read More
antimicrobial resistance New preprint: Predicting pyrazinamide resistance by machine learning 29th April 201929th April 2019 Usually, the protein that an antibiotic binds is essential for bacterial survival, which is how… Share this:Twitter Read More