The Effects of Splayed Lipid Molecules on Lubrication by Lipid Bilayers
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The outstanding lubrication of articular cartilage in the major synovial joints such as hips and knees, essential for the joint well-being, has been attributed to boundary layers of lipids at the outer cartilage surfaces, which have very low friction mediated by the hydration lubrication mechanism at their highly hydrated exposed headgroups. However, the role of spontaneously present lipid splays—lipids with an acyl tail in each of the opposing bilayers—in modulating the frictional force between lipid bilayers has not, to date, been considered. In this study, we perform all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to quantitatively assess the significance of splayed molecules within the framework of lubricating lipid bilayers. We demonstrate that, although transient, splayed molecules significantly increase the inter-membrane friction until their retraction back into the lamellar phase, with this effect more steadily occurring at lower sliding velocities that are comparable to the physiological velocities of sliding articular cartilage.
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The analysis employs biased molecular-dynamics simulations building on pioneering work on splayed lipids and fusion stalks, and is motivated by the earlier finding that pronounced interfacial dissipation observed between sliding bilayers under transmembrane electric fields arises from spontaneous stalk formation.
“Our analysis employs biased molecular-dynamics simulations building on pioneering work on splayed lipids and fusion stalks 10,13,14,18,32,33 , and is motivated by our earlier finding that the pronounced interfacial dissipation observed between sliding bilayers under transmembrane electric fields arises from spontaneous stalk formation 9 .”
From Fusion of lipid membranes: an alternative pathway (2026) · cites this paper as [32]
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Origins of hydration lubrication
Ma, L., Gaisinskaya-Kipnis, A., Kampf, N., & Klein, J. (2015) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms7060 · Cited by 390 · cited 3× · see citing works
“This duality has been demonstrated experimentally from surface force balance (SFB) experiments [7].”
BackgroundSelf-citationGoldberg, R., Schroeder, A., Silbert, G., Turjeman, K., Barenholz, Y., & Klein, J. (2011) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201101053 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Fusion of lipid membranes: an alternative pathway
Jin, D., Li, Z., Roke, S., & Klein, J. (2026) · doi:10.64898/2026.02.19.706911
Self-citation
- Authors
- Jin, D., & Klein, J.
- Affiliations
- Weizmann Institute of Science (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Jin, Di
- ORCID
- Klein, Jacob
- Venue
- Lubricants
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2024-04-05
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 120
- ISSN
- 2075-4442 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4393987619
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 0.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Lubricants (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (cc-by)
- Funders
- Israel Science Foundation (1229/20, 743016)
- European Research Council (1229/20, 743016)
- Weizmann Institute Cloud Computing (1229/20, 743016)
- WEXAC and ChemFarm facilities at the Weizmann Institute (1229/20, 743016)
- Perlman family (1229/20, 743016)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Lubricants and Their Additives
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Tribology and Lubrication Engineering
- Keywords
- lipid bilayers, articular cartilage lubrication, hydration lubrication, lipid head groups, sliding velocity, lamellar phase, synovial joints
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