Molecular structure of long n-alkanes in phospholipid membranes
by Anika Wurl
and
Dimerization of Polyglutamine chains within the PRIME20 model
by Christian Lauer
hybrid seminar: VSP1, room 1.02 (Halle) + zoom
date: June 21, 14.30
chair: Afiq
Abstracts
Molecular structure of long n-alkanes in phospholipid membranes
by Anika Wurl
Investigating how hydrophobic molecules mix with phospholipid bilayers and how they affect membrane properties is commonplace in Biophysics. Despite of this, a molecular-level description of a membrane model as simple as a phospholipid bilayer with long linear hydrophobic chains incorporated is still missing. Here, a molecular characterization of the incorporation of two long n-alkanes — n-eicosane (C20) and n-triacontane (C30) with 20 and 30 carbons, respectively — in phosphatidylcholine (PC) bilayers is presented. In particular, this talk focusses on how MD simulations enable an atomistic-level interpretation of measured 2H NMR spectra, which are surprisingly different for C20 and C30.
Dimerization of Polyglutamine chains within the PRIME20 model
by Christian Lauer
The aggregation Polyglutamine extensions in proteins is associated with neurodegenerative diseases. I use advanced Monte Carlo sampling and an intermediate-resolution protein model to investigate the thermodynamics and the nucleation processes of the aggregation. I identify and characterize pseudo-phase transitions, investigate conformations in the systems and disentangle inter- vs. intra-molecular interactions.
