Calcium-Induced Lipid Nanocluster Structures: Sculpturing of the Plasma Membrane

The plasma membrane of the cell is a complex, tightly regulated, heterogeneous environment shaped by proteins, lipids, and small molecules. Ca2+ ions are important cellular messengers, spatially separated from anionic lipids. After cell injury, disease, or apoptotic events, anionic lipids are externalized to the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane and encounter Ca2+, resulting in dramatic changes in the plasma membrane structure and initiation of signaling cascades. Despite the high chemical and biological significance, the structures of lipid–Ca2+ nanoclusters are still not known. Previously, we demonstrated by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy that upon binding to Ca2+, individual phosphatidylserine lipids populate two distinct yet-to-be-characterized structural environments. Here, we concurrently employ extensive all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with our accelerated membrane mimetic and detailed NMR measurements to identify lipid–Ca2+ nanocluster conformations. We f...