RUI: Exploring Lipid Interactions Using Atomistic Models

Wabash College, Crawfordsville IN

Investigators

Abstract

Computer simulation methods will be used to study the atomic level details of interactions within models of cellular membranes. For example, the interactions between membrane proteins and the phospholipids that constitute the majority of the membrane will be examined with particular interest in how these interactions are determined by the type of lipid. An important system for study will be membranes containing the protein rhodopsin, a protein whose activation is the key first step in the vision process, and polyunsaturated phospholipids that have been identified in previous experimental studies as key to the development of visual acuity. The model system under study will also be expanded to include other potentially important membrane constituents such as cholesterol and alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E). The computational studies to be carried out in this project are motivated by specific observations in the laboratories of experimentalist colleagues, each of whom will be actively involved in the project. Substantial broader impacts will result from this project. The most direct impact will be the extensive role played by undergraduate students as co-workers via the research internships that will be available to numerous students during the academic year and summer. In addition to testing simulation methods, carrying out simulations, and analyzing/interpreting simulation results, students will present their results to the campus community and at national and regional scientific meetings. These presentations will prepare them for careers as scientific researchers and will demonstrate exciting opportunities available to prospective science majors. All science majors at the institution will be impacted during undergraduate instruction through the transfer of molecular modeling techniques from the research laboratory to the chemistry curriculum. This project is jointly supported by Molecular Biophysics in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences and The Physics of Living Systems Program in the Physics division.