Lipid distributions and transleaflet cholesterol migration near heterogeneous surfaces in asymmetric bilayers

Specific and nonspecific protein-lipid interactions in cell membranes have important roles in an abundance of biological functions. We have used coarse-grained (CG) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to assess lipid distributions and cholesterol flipping dynamics around surfaces in a model asymmetric plasma membrane containing one of six structurally distinct entities: aquaporin-1 (AQP1), the bacterial {beta}-barrel outer membrane proteins OmpF and OmpX, KcsA potassium channel, WALP23 peptide, and a carbon nanotube (CNT). Our findings revealed varied lipid partitioning and cholesterol flipping times around the different solutes, and putative cholesterol binding sites in AQP1 and KcsA. The results suggest that protein-lipid interactions can be highly variable, and that surface-dependant lipid profiles are effectively manifested in CG simulations with the Martini force field.