Influence of phospholipid head and tail molecular structures on cell membrane mechanical response under tension.

This article focuses on the effects of structural differences among seven phospholipid types on the mechanical deformation, failure, and mechanoporation damage of biological cell membranes using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The phospholipids studied, which vary in headgroup, acyl chain length, and saturation, exhibited similar yield stresses and pore formation behaviors but differed significantly in failure strains, with lipids having larger equilibrium area per lipid (APL) failing at lower strains. The findings indicate that larger headgroups, higher degrees of unsaturation, and tail-length asymmetry reduce lipid packing density, increase membrane fluidity and permeability, and consequently lower the membrane’s mechanical failure threshold under tension. These results provide molecular-level insights into how lipid composition influences membrane biophysical responses and can inform future research on complex biological membranes.