ABSTRACT
I. Introduction 229
A. Computer Simulations Can Provide Such a Picture 231
II. Simulations Methodology 233
III. Simulation Results 235
A. Lipid Monolayers (No Peptide) 235
B. SP-B1 – 25: Lipid Monolayers 240
IV. Conclusions 245
References 245
I. Introduction
The lung epithelial cells, the alveoli, are lined with a thin liquid film that serves as
a means of hydration and a host defense mechanism (1-3). Of primary biomedi-
cal importance is the surfactant component of this film, a mixture of lipids and
proteins that reduces the surface tension at the air/liquid interface. This reduction stabilizes the alveoli during expiration and reduces the required work to
re-expand the lung during the next respiratory cycle. Dysfunction or absence
of lung surfactant (LS) results in clinically important respiratory complications
in preterm infants (respiratory distress syndrome, RDS) and adults (adult respir-
atory distress syndrome, ARDS) (4-6). The significance of RDS among neonatal
diseases and the severity of ARDS, which is one of the leading death causes in
intensive care units, has led to significant efforts to identify exogenous surfactant
replacement therapies (7-13). In the last few years, administration of human-or
animal-derived surfactants has proven effective in treating RDS, but the potential
of contamination and/or adverse immunological response to natural surfactants has shifted the interest of researchers to the development of synthetic analogs
(14-17).
