Das, C orcid.org/0000-0002-1454-6210 and Olmsted, PD (2016) The physics of stratum corneum lipid membranes. Philosophical Transactions A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 374 (2072). 20150126. ISSN 1364-503X
Abstract
The stratum corneum (SC), the outermost layer of skin, comprises rigid corneocytes (keratin-filled dead cells) in a specialized lipid matrix. The continuous lipid matrix provides the main barrier against uncontrolled water loss and invasion of external pathogens. Unlike all other biological lipid membranes (such as intracellular organelles and plasma membranes), molecules in the SC lipid matrix show small hydrophilic groups and large variability in the length of the alkyl tails and in the numbers and positions of groups that are capable of forming hydrogen bonds. Molecular simulations provide a route for systematically probing the effects of each of these differences separately. In this article, we present the results from atomistic molecular dynamics of selected lipid bilayers and multi-layers to probe the effect of these polydispersities. We address the nature of the tail packing in the gel-like phase, the hydrogen bond network among head groups, the bending moduli expected for leaflets comprising SC lipids and the conformation of very long ceramide lipids in multi-bilayer lipid assemblies.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 The Author(s). This is an author produced version of a paper published in Philosophical Transactions A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | skin lipids, lipid bilayers, computer simulations, molecular dynamics, liquid crystallinity, phase transitions |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Mathematics (Leeds) > Applied Mathematics (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 25 May 2016 14:14 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jul 2017 16:23 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2015.0126 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | The Royal Society |
Identification Number: | 10.1098/rsta.2015.0126 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:98616 |