Biophysical Journal 66: 561-572 (1994)
© 1994 the Biophysical Society

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Molecular distributions in interphases: statistical mechanical theory combined with molecular dynamics simulation of a model lipid bilayer.

Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

ABSTRACT

A mean-field statistical mechanical theory has been developed to describe molecular distributions in interphases. The excluded volume interaction has been modeled in terms of a reversible work that is required to create a cavity of the solute size against a pressure tensor exerted by the surrounding interphase molecules. The free energy change associated with this compression process includes the configuration entropy as well as the change in conformational energy of the surrounding chain molecules. The lateral pressure profile in a model lipid bilayer (30.5 A2/chain molecule) has been calculated as a function of depth in the bilayer interior by molecular dynamics simulation. The lateral pressure has a plateau value of 309 +/- 48 bar in the highly ordered region and decreases abruptly in the center of the bilayer. Model calculations have shown that for solute molecules with ellipsoidal symmetry, the orientational order increases with the ratio of the long to short molecular axes at a given solute volume and increases with solute volume at a given axial ratio, in accordance with recent experimental data. Increased lateral pressure (p perpendicular) results in higher local order and exclusion of solute from the interphase, in parallel with the effect of surface density on the partitioning and local order. The logarithm of the interphase/water partition coefficient for spherical solutes decreases linearly with solute volume. This is also an excellent approximation for elongated solutes because of the relatively weak dependence of solute partitioning on molecular shape. The slope is equal to (2p perpendicular - p parallel)/3KBT, where p parallel is the normal pressure component, and different from that predicted by the mean-field lattice theory. Finally, the lattice theory has been extended herein to incorporate an additional constraint on chain packing in the interphase and to account for the effect of solute size on partitioning.