Cellular membranes are the gateways of life, orchestrating numerous biological processes. Lipids, the essential building blocks of these membranes, play critical roles in maintaining their structure, dynamics, and function. This talk will delve into the multifaceted roles of lipids both in biological membranes and in pharmaceutical lipid nanoparticles through the lens of scale-bridging molecular dynamics simulations. First, we will explore the role of aminolipids as key components of lipid nanoparticles used for drug delivery. We will discuss how aminolipids steer the pH-dependent remodeling of nanoparticles. Next, we unveil surprising findings about cholesterol's impact on biomembrane dynamics. While cholesterol, the main component of plasma membranes, is known to thicken membranes and to decrease membrane permeability, we reveal how cooperativity between thermal membrane bending and local cholesterol distribution results in unexpected membrane softening. The presence of cholesterol in eukaryotic cell membranes – and its absence in bacterial membranes – suggests an attractive route to increase the specificity of antibiotics. We show that and how this route is probably already exploited by Staphylococcus lugdunensis, and discuss how the variability of bacterial cell membrane composition may guide the design of antimicrobial peptides. Through these examples, we illustrate how lipids underpin both the stability and adaptability of cellular membranes, shaping their role in health, disease, and therapeutic innovation. From fundamental biology to applications in drug delivery and antibiotic design, this talk highlights the profound importance of lipids in our understanding of life at the molecular level.
Speaker: Rainer A. Böckmann, Computational Biology, Department of Biology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
