Membrane Fusion - computer simulation

Max Planck Society - Press Release: "The fusion of membranes is essential for many processes in the human body, for instance, in the communication between nerve cells. A single fusion event occurs on the nanometer scale and takes less than a millisecond. Using computer simulations, scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces have now been able to observe single fusion events with molecular resolution. The simulations are based on new computer algorithms by which one can investigate two large membranes which contain more that ten thousand lipid molecules surrounded by about three million water molecules. These simulations reveal that the fusion process can be controlled by the initial tensions within the membranes. Fusion occurs only at intermediate tensions but, when it occurs, it happens extremely quickly and is completed within 200 nanoseconds. (Nature Materials, Advanced Online Publication, February 13, 2005)"