---
OA_place: publisher
_id: '18661'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: "Across the tree of life, distinct designs of cellular membranes have evolved
    that are both stable\r\nand flexible. In bacteria and eukaryotes this trade-off
    is accomplished by single-headed lipids\r\nthat self-assemble into flexible bilayer
    membranes. By contrast, archaea in many cases possess\r\nboth bilayer and double-headed,
    monolayer spanning bolalipids. This composition is believed\r\nto enable extremophile
    archaea to survive harsh environments. Here, through the creation of a\r\nminimal
    computational model for bolalipid membranes, we discover trade-offs when forming\r\nmembranes
    using lipids of a single type. Similar to living archaea, we can tune the stiffness
    of\r\nbolalipid molecules. We find that membranes made out of flexible bolalipid
    molecules resemble\r\nbilayer membranes as they can adopt U-shaped conformations
    to enable higher curvatures.\r\nConversely, rigid bolalipid molecules, like those
    found in archaea at higher temperatures,\r\npreferentially take on a straight
    conformation to self-assemble into liquid membranes that are\r\nstable, stiff,
    prone to pore formation, and which tear during membrane reshaping. Strikingly,\r\nhowever,
    our analysis reveals that it is possible to achieve the best of both worlds –
    membranes\r\nthat are fluid, stable at high temperatures and flexible enough to
    be reshaped without leaking –\r\nthrough the inclusion of a small fraction of
    bilayer lipids into a bolalipid membrane. Additionally,\r\nthe curvature-dependent
    softening of bolalipid membranes made of lipids with tension-sensitive\r\nconformation
    can also enable high rigidity at low curvatures while softening at high curvatures,\r\nmaking
    the membrane effectively a plastic material. Taken together, our study compares
    the\r\ndifferent membrane designs across the tree of life and indicates how combining
    lipids can be\r\nused to resolve trade-offs when generating membranes for (bio)technological
    applications.\r\n"
alternative_title:
- ISTA Thesis
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Miguel
  full_name: Santana de Freitas Amaral, Miguel
  id: 4f2d02dd-47a9-11ec-ad10-82820ed3f501
  last_name: Santana de Freitas Amaral
citation:
  ama: 'Santana de Freitas Amaral M. Archaeal membranes: In silico modelling and design.
    2024. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:18661">10.15479/at:ista:18661</a>'
  apa: 'Santana de Freitas Amaral, M. (2024). <i>Archaeal membranes: In silico modelling
    and design</i>. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. <a href="https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:18661">https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:18661</a>'
  chicago: 'Santana de Freitas Amaral, Miguel. “Archaeal Membranes: In Silico Modelling
    and Design.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2024. <a href="https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:18661">https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:18661</a>.'
  ieee: 'M. Santana de Freitas Amaral, “Archaeal membranes: In silico modelling and
    design,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2024.'
  ista: 'Santana de Freitas Amaral M. 2024. Archaeal membranes: In silico modelling
    and design. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.'
  mla: 'Santana de Freitas Amaral, Miguel. <i>Archaeal Membranes: In Silico Modelling
    and Design</i>. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2024, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:18661">10.15479/at:ista:18661</a>.'
  short: 'M. Santana de Freitas Amaral, Archaeal Membranes: In Silico Modelling and
    Design, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2024.'
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2024-12-16T10:53:39Z
date_published: 2024-12-17T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-10-02T11:12:49Z
day: '17'
ddc:
- '572'
- '530'
degree_awarded: PhD
department:
- _id: GradSch
- _id: AnSa
doi: 10.15479/at:ista:18661
doi_confirm: '1'
file:
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  date_updated: 2025-06-18T22:30:03Z
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  embargo: 2025-06-18
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fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:18661
has_accepted_license: '1'
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
month: '12'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: '57'
publication_identifier:
  isbn:
  - 978-3-99078-046-6
  issn:
  - 2663-337X
publication_status: published
publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria
related_material:
  record:
  - id: '18670'
    relation: part_of_dissertation
    status: public
researchdata_availability: unclear
status: public
supervisor:
- first_name: Anđela
  full_name: Šarić, Anđela
  id: bf63d406-f056-11eb-b41d-f263a6566d8b
  last_name: Šarić
  orcid: 0000-0002-7854-2139
supplementarymaterial: unclear
title: 'Archaeal membranes: In silico modelling and design'
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by_sa.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License (CC
    BY-SA 4.0)
  short: CC BY-SA (4.0)
type: dissertation
user_id: 317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345
year: '2024'
...