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Molecular Dynamics Simulations and ²H NMR Study of the GalCer/DPPG Lipid Bilayer

Department of Physics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Correspondence: Address reprint requests to K. R. Jeffrey, Dept. of Physics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1. Tel.: 519-824-4120; E-mail: krj{at}physics.uoguelph.ca.

Molecular dynamics simulations were performed on a two-component lipid bilayer system in the liquid crystalline phase at constant pressure and constant temperature. The lipid bilayers were composed of a mixture of neutral galactosylceramide (GalCer) and charged dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol (DPPG) lipid molecules. Two lipid bilayer systems were prepared with GalCer:DPPG ratio 9:1 (10%-DPPG system) and 3:1 (25%-DPPG system). The 10%-DPPG system represents a collapsed state lipid bilayer, with a narrow water space between the bilayers, and the 25%-DPPG system represents an expanded state with a fluid space of 10 nm. The number of lipid molecules used in each simulation was 1024, and the length of the production run simulation was 10 ns. The simulations were validated by comparing the results with experimental data for several important aspects of the bilayer structure and dynamics. Deuterium order parameters obtained from ²H NMR experiments for DPPG chains are in a very good agreement with those obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. The surface area per GalCer lipid molecule was estimated to be 0.608 ± 0.011 nm². From the simulated electron density profiles, the bilayer thickness defined as the distance between the phosphorus peaks across the bilayer was calculated to be 4.21 nm. Both simulation systems revealed a tendency for cooperative bilayer undulations, as expected in the liquid crystalline phase. The interaction of water with the GalCer and DPPG oxygen atoms results in a strong water ordering in a spherical hydration shell and the formation of hydrogen bonds (H-bonds). Each GalCer lipid molecule makes 8.6 ± 0.1 H-bonds with the surrounding water, whereas each DPPG lipid molecule makes 8.3 ± 0.1 H-bonds. The number of water molecules per GalCer or DPPG in the hydration shell was estimated to be 10–11 from an analysis of the radial distribution functions. The formation of the intermolecular hydrogen bonds was observed between hydroxyl groups from the opposing GalCer sugar headgroups, giving an energy of adhesion in the range between –1.0 and –3.4 erg/cm². We suggest that this value is the contribution of the hydrogen-bond component to the net adhesion energy between GalCer bilayers in the liquid crystalline phase.

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