Mechanical properties of bilayers containing sperm sphingomyelins and ceramides with very long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids

PEÑALVA, D.A.; CASCALES, J.J. LÓPEZ; AHUMADA-GUTIERREZ, H.; ANTOLLINI, S.S.; ENRIZ, R.D.

CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS OF LIPIDS

ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD

Año: 2019 vol. 218 p. 178 - 186

0009-3084

Sphingomyelins (SM) and ceramides (Cer) with very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (V) are important components of spermatozoa membranes. In this study, the mechanical properties of bilayers of SM and Cer with nonhydroxy (n-V) and 2-hydroxy (h-V) fatty acid (30:5) were studied by molecular dynamics simulation at different temperatures and in the presence and the absence of salt. From our results, it was evidenced how n-V SM and h-V SM bilayers showed similar behavior. When n-V Cer was added to a h-V SM bilayer, the Gaussian curvature modulus and Ecurve of binary bilayers decreased. This variation in the mechanical properties of the bilayer can be associated with an incipient step during the fecundation process.