When
Abstract
The lipid make-up of a bilayer determines its measurable properties but how the motions of individual molecules combine to produce these properties remains unclear. By exploiting the synergy between NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we recently showed that the lipid dynamics in a bilayer are collective yet segmental in nature and contribute directly to bilayer elasticity. Comparison between MD simulations and NMR entails an improved theoretical framework that allows the two techniques to be directly related. I will present these new developments in the context of ongoing research efforts in the field. The approach and its applications provide novel insights into the inner workings of lipid membranes while delivering a new tool for validating computational approaches against experimental data.
Presenter
Dr. Milka Doktorova
Postdoctoral Researcher, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics Department, University of Virginia
Bio-sketch
Milka did her doctoral work at Cornell University and is now a postdoctoral researcher in the Levental lab at the University of Virginia. She does both experimental and computational work and studies fundamental questions pertaining to biomembrane structure and function. She tries to look at problems from different angles and enjoys finding connections between seemingly unrelated fields and ideas.