MEMBRANE-MEDIATED PROTEIN ATTRACTION - A MONTE-CARLO STUDY

Non-specific lipid-mediated interactions between two integral membrane proteins have been investigated using Monte-Carlo simulations. We hav e found two different ranges of attraction. A depletion-induced attrac tion in the range r < sigma(L), where sigma(L), is the diameter of a l ipid and r is the distance between the surfaces of the two proteins, a nd a fluctuation-induced attraction in the range 1 < r/sigma(L) < 4 th at originates from the gradients in the density fluctuations of the li pids around each protein. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights re served.