Peroxidised phospholipid bilayers: insight from coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations

An original coarse-grained model for peroxidised phospholipids is presented, based on the MARTINI lipid force field. This model results from a combination of thermodynamic modelling and structural information on the area per lipid, which have been made available recently. The resulting coarse-grained lipid molecules form stable bilayers, and a set of elastic coefficients (compressibility and bending moduli) is obtained. We compare the compressibility coefficient to the experimental values [Weber et al., Soft Matter, 2014, 10, 4241]. Predictions for the mechanical properties, membrane thickness and lateral distribution of hydroperoxide groups in the phospholipid bilayer are presented.