Why do we need cholesterol and cardiolipin?
The membranes of the human body are made up of lipids, also known as fats, and cover a surface area of around 100 square meters. The doctoral dissertation of MSc (Tech) Sanja Pöyry focuses on the properties of model membranes rich in two lipids: cholesterol and cardiolipin.Our bodies contain thousands of different kinds of lipids. The main purpose of lipids is to form membranes that are only a couple of nanometres thick. Membranes separate the cells from the outside environment and divide them into specialized compartments that each carry out a specific function. However, the membrane is not a passive wall, but serves as an active interface between the cell and its environment and affects, for example, the function of membrane proteins.
Cholesterol and cardiolipin have been found to carry out essential functions within membranes. Despite being structurally very different, the biological significance of both of these lipids is partly related to their ability to promote order in lipid membranes.
Pöyry’s dissertation explores the function of the two lipids in membrane environments by using atomic-scale molecular dynamics simulations. The results demonstrate that cardiolipin plays an integral role in the structure and function of membrane proteins. In addition, the findings indicate that there may be a mechanism whereby cardiolipin protects microbial membranes against the attacks of antimicrobial peptides.
Public defence of a doctoral dissertation on Friday, 25 January
The doctoral dissertation of MSc (Tech) Sanja Pöyry in the field of biophysics titled ”Computational modelling of membranes rich in cardiolipin and sterols” will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Tampere University of Technology (TUT) in room S1 in the Sähkötalo building (address: Korkeakoulunkatu 8, Tampere, Finland) on Friday, 25 January 2013 at 12:00.
The opponent will be Dr. Ünal Coskun (Paul Langerhans Institute, Medical Faculty TU Dresden, Germany). Professor Ilpo Vattulainen from the Department of Physics of TUT will act as Chairman.
Sanja Pöyry (27) works as a researcher and is part of the Biological Physics and Soft Matter (BIO) Group at TUT.
Further information:
Sanja Pöyry, tel. +358 40 198 1185, ">sanja.poyry@tut.fi