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Despite being chemically inert as a bulk material, nanoscale gold can pose harmful side effects to living organisms. In particular, cationic Au nanoparticles (AuNP+) of 2 nm diameter or less permeate readily through plasma membranes and induce cell death. We report atomistic simulations of cationic Au nanoparticles interacting with realistic membranes and explicit solvent using a model system that comprises two cellular compartments, extracellular and cytosolic, divided by two asymmetric lipid bilayers. The membrane–AuNP+ binding and membrane reorganization processes are discovered to be governed by co-operative effects where AuNP+, counterions, water, and the two membrane leaflets all contribute. On the extracellular side, we find that the nanoparticle has to cross a free energy barrier of about 5 kBT prior forming a stable contact with the membrane. This results in a rearrangement of the zwitterionic lipids and nanoparticle side groups in the contact area, giving rise to the initial stage of pore format...

the journal of physical chemistry c

Cationic Au Nanoparticle Binding with Plasma Membrane-like Lipid Bilayers: Potential Mechanism for Spontaneous Permeation to Cells Revealed by Atomistic Simulations