Molecular dynamics simulations of lipid bilayers

Computer simulation methods are becoming increasingly widespread as tools f or studying the structure and dynamics of Lipid bilayer membranes. The leng th scale and time scale accessible to atomic-level molecular dynamics simul ations are rapidly increasing, providing insight into the relatively slow m otions of molecular reorientation and translation and demonstrating that ef fects due to the finite size of the simulation cell can influence simulatio n results. Additionally, significant advances have been made in the complex ity of membrane systems studied, including bilayers with cholesterol, small solute molecules, and lipid-protein and lipid-DNA complexes. Especially pr omising is the progress that continues to be made in the comparison of simu lation results with experiment, both to validate the simulation algorithms and to aid in the interpretation of existing experimental data. (C) 2000 El sevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.