2008/09/10 by Beate West, Frank L. H. Brown, Friederike Schmid · 4 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications #Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior #Protein Structure and Dynamics #physics.bio-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1529/biophysj.108.138677
16 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Biophysical Journal
arxiv created 2008/09/10 · openalex publication_date 2008/10/04 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
We study membrane-protein interactions and membrane-mediated protein-protein interactions by Monte Carlo simulations of a generic coarse-grained model for lipid bilayers with cylindrical hydrophobic inclusions. The strength of the hydrophobic force and the hydrophobic thickness of the proteins are systematically varied. The results are compared with analytical predictions of two popular analytical theories: The Landau-de Gennes theory and the elastic theory. The elastic theory provides an excellent description of the fluctuation spectra of pure membranes and successfully reproduces the deformation profiles of membranes around single proteins. However, its prediction for the potential of mean force between proteins is not compatible with the simulation data for large distances. The simulations show that the lipid-mediated interactions are governed by five competing factors: Direct interactions, lipid-induced depletion interactions, lipid bridging, lipid packing, and a smooth long-range contribution. The mechanisms leading to "hydrophobic mismatch" interactions are critically analyzed.