Structure and electroporation of lipid bilayers: A Molecular Dynamics study

Pore formation in lipid bilayers subjected to a transverse electric field is studied by means of Molecular Dynamics simulations of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC). The physical characteristics of the lipid membrane are crucial to understand the electroporation conditions. For example, addition of cholesterol (Chol) causes a substantial increment of membrane cohesion that results in an increase of the minimum electric field needed for membrane permeabilization. Instead, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is known to produce an opposite effect on membrane properties by increasing its fluidity and disorder that may open the possibility to facilitate the membrane electroporation process.