Lateral Organization and Dynamics of the Realistic Plasma Membrane

Large-scale simulations of realistic crowded cell membranes
can
bridge the gap between the simulations and experiments. However, the
compositional complexity and structural asymmetry of cell membranes
continue to pose significant challenges in computational biology.
Recent advances in understanding native membranes, including their
composition and protein structures, enable us to construct a highly
realistic model of the mammalian plasma membrane. Using this model,
we explore the organization and dynamics of biological cell membranes
at the molecular level. We found that the interaction preferences
of protein–lipid mediate the formation of dynamic clusters
of nonrandomly distributed proteins, accompanied by heterogeneous
structural properties and anomalous diffusion. These evolving dynamic
clusters intertwine to form a highly complex and continuously changing
protein network. Our study provides significant insights into the
intricate lateral dynamic organization of cell membranes.