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dc.contributor.advisorAlfredo Alexander-Katz.en_US
dc.contributor.authorDerry, Alexander(Alexander W.)en_US
dc.contributor.otherMassachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2019-10-11T21:13:31Z
dc.date.available2019-10-11T21:13:31Z
dc.date.copyright2018en_US
dc.date.issued2018en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122483
dc.descriptionThis electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.en_US
dc.descriptionThesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 2018en_US
dc.descriptionCataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.en_US
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (pages 43-45).en_US
dc.description.abstractUnderstanding the interactions between nanoparticles and lipid membranes is important for applications such as drug delivery and membrane-protein mimetics. Perturbations such as area asymmetry and lateral tension affect these interactions by inducing various structural changes to the membranes. We use molecular dynamics simulations to demonstrate that the introduction of area asymmetry to a bilayer membrane significantly decreases the insertion latency of amphiphilic gold nanoparticles into both the densely and sparsely packed leaflets. We further demonstrate using transition state analysis that the dominant mechanisms for insertion into the dense and sparse leaflets are lipid desorption and lipid tail protrusions, respectively. These findings are supported by potential of mean force calculations showing that the energy barrier to protrusion is lower in the sparse leaflet, while that of desorption is lower in the dense leaflet. We also demonstrate that the structural characteristics of the bilayer when subject to lateral tension are similar to that observed in membranes with area asymmetry, suggesting a similar reduction in insertion latency. Further, we observe that lateral tension also increases the likelihood of nanoparticle ligands flipping across the bilayer, which is necessary for the nanoparticle adopting a stable symmetric configuration in the membrane.en_US
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityby Alexander Derry.en_US
dc.format.extent45 pagesen_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherMassachusetts Institute of Technologyen_US
dc.rightsMIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.en_US
dc.rights.urihttp://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582en_US
dc.subjectMaterials Science and Engineering.en_US
dc.titleInteraction of amphiphilic nanoparticles with structurally perturbed lipid membranesen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.description.degreeS.B.en_US
dc.contributor.departmentMassachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineeringen_US
dc.identifier.oclc1121596567en_US
dc.description.collectionS.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineeringen_US
dspace.imported2019-10-11T21:13:31Zen_US
mit.thesis.degreeBacheloren_US
mit.thesis.departmentMatScien_US


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