Ceramide in the Outer Mitochondrial Membrane and its Role in Apoptosis

• Autor(a) principal: Vieira, Gonçalo Miguel Pinto Batista e Sá
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/152613
• topic: Ceramide; Apoptosis

"Ceramides constitute a class of lipids found in different locations such as the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM), whose permeabilization is a point-of-no-return in apoptosis. This phenomenon has been linked to the Voltage Dependent Anion Channel (VDAC), with which Ceramides can interact via a membrane-buried Glutamate residue in isoforms 1 and 2. To study the role of Ceramides in apoptosis, a Coarse Grain (CG) model of this lipid was created and subsequently optimized in terms of Solvent Accessible Surface Area and topology parameters. The latter were developed through a trial-and-error approach until the CG behavior resembled the atomistic references. The obtained parameters were further tested but results were inconclusive, probably due to the method used. Nevertheless, preliminary data demonstrated the model to properly interact with the Glutamate of VDAC."