Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2023
Volume 68, Number 3
Las Vegas, Nevada (March 5-10)
Virtual (March 20-22); Time Zone: Pacific Time
Session B10: Quantitative Cell Physiology I - Shape and Size
11:30 AM–2:30 PM,
Monday, March 6, 2023
Room: Room 202
Sponsoring
Unit:
DBIO
Chair: Suckjoon Jun, University of California, San Diego
Abstract: B10.00007 : Using simulations to investigate the mechanical properties of peptidoglycan*
12:42 PM–12:54 PM
Presenter:
Marco Mauri
(University Jena)
Authors:
Marco Mauri
(University Jena)
Abimbola F. Adedeji Olulana
(University of Sheffield)
Jamie K. Hobbs
(University of Sheffield)
Sheila Hoshyaripour
(University Jena)
Rosalind J Allen
(University Jena)
Here, we present a coarse-grained molecular simulation model for the PG mesh in Gram negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli. Inspired by previous works [1,2], we model PG as a network of beads and springs governed by a system of overdamped Langevin equations. However, our model is novel in that it incorporates real configurations of glycan strands, informed by AFM and biochemical measurements.
We use dynamical simulations to study how a patch of PG responds to mechanical and biochemical perturbations. This allows us to predict mechanical properties, such as the elastic modulus and hole size distribution, for PG under different conditions. We also predict the mechanical effects of antibiotic action via uncontrolled hydrolase enzymes, and explore the role of biophysical properties of the mesh, such as connectivity, on mechanical stability.
Our work provides a connection between the molecular-scale PG configuration and the macro-scale mechanical properties of the cell wall.
[1] KC Huang et al., PNAS 2008, [2] LT Nguyen et al., PNAS 2015
*Excellence Cluster Balance of the Microverse (EXC 2051 - Project-ID 390713860) funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).This work was funded by EPSRC under grant EP/T002778/1.European Research Council under Consolidator grant 682237 EVOSTRUC.
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