Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Simulations of skin barrier function
View graph of relations

Simulations of skin barrier function: free energies of hydrophobic and hydrophilic transmembrane pores in ceramide bilayers

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
  • Rebecca Notman
  • Jamshed Anwar
  • W. J. Briels
  • Massimo G. Noro
  • Wouter K. den Otter
Close
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>15/11/2008
<mark>Journal</mark>Biophysical Journal
Issue number10
Volume95
Number of pages9
Pages (from-to)4763-4771
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Transmembrane pore formation is central to many biological processes such as ion transport, cell fusion, and viral infection. Furthermore, pore formation in the ceramide bilayers of the stratum corneum may be an important mechanism by which penetration enhancers such as dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) weaken the barrier function of the skin. We have used the potential of mean constraint force (PMCF) method to calculate the free energy of pore formation in ceramide bilayers in both the innate gel phase and in the DMSO-induced fluidized state. Our simulations show that the fluid phase bilayers form archetypal water-filled hydrophilic pores similar to those observed in phospholipid bilayers. In contrast, the rigid gel-phase bilayers develop hydrophobic pores. At the relatively small pore diameters studied here, the hydrophobic pores are empty rather than filled with bulk water, suggesting that they do not compromise the barrier function of ceramide membranes. A phenomenological analysis suggests that these vapor pores are stable, below a critical radius, because the penalty of creating water-vapor and tail-vapor interfaces is lower than that of directly exposing the strongly hydrophobic tails to water. The PMCF free energy pro. le of the vapor pore supports this analysis. The simulations indicate that high DMSO concentrations drastically impair the barrier function of the skin by strongly reducing the free energy required for pore opening.