The Journal of Chemical Physics · 2001 · 184 citations · 11 references
Natural SciencesBiologyBiophysicsComputational BiophysicsMembrane BiophysicsMolecular BiophysicsBiological MembranesFusion Pore DynamicsLipid BilayersMembrane DynamicsMembrane FusionVesicle FusionBrownian DynamicsBrownian Dynamics ModelingBrownian Dynamics SimulationFusion Intermediate StatesMembrane Fusion MechanicsMembrane Fusion Pore FormationMonolayersVesicle Fusion Pore Dynamics
We studied the fusion dynamics of vesicles using a Brownian dynamics simulation. Amphiphilic molecules spontaneously form vesicles with a bilayer structure. Two vesicles come into contact and form a stalk intermediate, in which a necklike structure only connects the outer monolayers, as predicted by the stalk hypothesis. We have found a new pathway of pore opening from stalks at high temperature: the elliptic stalk bends and contact between the ends of the arc-shaped stalk leads to pore opening. On the other hand, we have clarified that the pore-opening process at low temperature agrees with the modified stalk model: a pore is induced by contact between the inner monolayers inside the stalk.
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