Insertion of Glyphoste into a lipid bilayer: Study by molecular dynamics

FRIGINI, EZEQUIEL; MARTIN, OSVALDO; PORASSO, RODOLFO D.

Carlos Paz

Congreso; XLII Reunión anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Biofisica; 2013

Herbicides are very useful for agriculture, allowing the elimination of weeds for the optimum development of crops. In the last decades, glyphosate has been the most widely used herbicide in the world. Currently, it is used without an accurate knowledge of its adverse effects on human health. Independent studies have shown that the glyphosate present some toxicity in laboratory animals. In order to understand how the glyphosate interacts with a cell, in a first approximation, we model the process of insertion of this herbicide molecule into a lipid bilayer, using the molecular dynamics technique. The main goal is to determine the precise location of the glyphosate within the membrane, determining the free energy profiles of this process.