Elastic moduli of normal and cancer cell membranes revealed by molecular dynamics simulations

Recent studies indicate that there are mechanical differences between normal cells and cancer cells. Because the cell membrane takes part in a variety of vital processes, we test the hypothesis of whether or not two fundamental alterations in the cell membrane, i.e., the overexpression of phosphatidylserine lipids in the outer leaflet and a reduction in cholesterol concentration, could cause the softening in cancer cells. Adopting ten models of normal and cancer cell membranes, we carry out 1 μs all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to compare the structural properties and elasticity properties of two membrane types. We find that the overexpression of the phosphatidylserine lipids in the outer leaflet does not significantly alter the area per lipid, the membrane thickness, the lipid order parameters and the elasticity moduli of the cancer membranes. However, a reduction in the cholesterol concentration leads to clear changes in those quantities, especially decreases in the bending, tilt and twist moduli. This implies that the reduction of cholesterol concentration in the cancer membranes could contribute to the softening of cancer cells.