Capturing Dynamics of Biomolecules - from Experiments to Simulations

Dear Colleagues,

Biological membranes comprising of lipids, proteins and carbohydrates regulate cellular functions allowing life to exist and any malfunction results in pathogenesis of several diseases. Understanding how these molecules function has been an active area of research for over two decades and recently there has been a rapid expansion in the field as a result of new approaches coupled with improved biophysical techniques to characterize biological samples. Furthermore, advances in supercomputers and ever-improving simulation algorithms have enabled simulations to converge with experiments probing dynamics of molecules at atomistic resolution.

The physical and chemical properties of lipids provide a boundary that separates the cells interior from its exterior environment, though allowing selective permeation of small molecules to maintain internal cell homeostasis. Small nonpolar molecules such as O₂ and CO₂ can readily diffuse across the cell membranes, whereas, ions and large molecules such as drugs and hormones can diffuse through specific actions of transporters, pore formation, ion imbalance etc. Cell membranes are complex and are composed of thousands of different lipid species, among them regulatory roles of polyunsaturated lipids, cholesterol, gangliosides, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine have been highlighted in modulating protein dynamics and functions. Despite, carbohydrates being key constituents of cell membranes, the interactions with the membranes and membrane proteins is not well understood. In addition, lipids also find application in medicine and drug delivery, including the current development of COVID-19 vaccines where the mRNA is encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles.

In this Special Issue, we encourage authors to submit original research manuscripts, reviews or communications on membrane transport proteins, peptides inducing pore formation, specific lipid-protein interactions, drug/nanoparticle-membrane interactions, carbohydrate-carbohydrate and carbohydrate-membrane interactions and lipid-based drug delivery which will greatly enhance our understanding of these biomolecules and provide a foundation for future investigations into biomolecular structure and dynamics.

Dr. Chetan Poojari
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.