Domain formation in model lipid–cholesterol liquid-crystalline aggregation

To understand the mechanism of cell-membrane compartmentalisation, we studied coarse-grained model systems consisting of lipid and cholesterol molecules. Cholesterol plays crucial role in lateral phase segregation in the bilayered lipid membrane to form cholesterol-rich liquid-ordered domains. In this NVT Molecular Dynamics simulation study, we have investigated the role of cholesterol in lipid bilayer destabilisation and domain formation. This study also reveals that the strength of cholesterol interaction is an important factor behind the phase segregation to form cholesterol-rich domains, whereas the relative dipolar strength of lipid and cholesterol molecules along with the concentration of cholesterol controls the formation of multi-bilayered stack.