Nanomechanical properties of lipid bilayer: Asymmetric modulation of lateral pressure and surface tension due to protein insertion in one leaflet of a bilayer

The lipid membranes of living cells form an integral part of biological systems, and the mechanical properties of these membranes play an important role in biophysical investigations. One interesting problem to be evaluated is the effect of protein insertion in one leaflet of a bilayer on the physical properties of lipid membrane. In the present study, an all atom (fine-grained) molecular dynamics simulation is used to investigate the binding of cytotoxin A3 (CTX A3), a cytotoxin from snake venom, to a phosphatidylcholine lipid bilayer. Then, a 5-microsecond coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation is carried out to compute the pressure tensor, lateral pressure, surface tension, and first moment of lateral pressure in each monolayer. Our simulations reveal that the insertion of CTX A3 into one monolayer results in an asymmetrical change in the lateral pressure and corresponding spatial distribution of surface tension of the individual bilayer leaflets. The relative variation in the surface tension of the two monolayers as a result of a change in the contribution of the various intermolecular forces may potentially be expressed morphologically.