Mesoscale simulation of biomembranes with FreeDTS

Abstract

We present FreeDTS software for performing computational research on biomembranes at the mesoscale. In this software, a membrane is represented by a dynamically triangulated surface equipped with vertex-based inclusions to integrate the effects of integral and peripheral membrane proteins. Several algorithms are included in the software to simulate complex membranes at different conditions such as framed membranes with constant tension, vesicles and high-genus membranes with various fixed volumes or constant pressure differences and applying external forces to membrane regions. Furthermore, the software allows the user to turn off the shape evolution of the membrane and focus solely on the organization of proteins. As a result, we can take realistic membrane shapes obtained from, for example, cryo-electron tomography and backmap them into a finer simulation model. In addition to many biomembrane applications, this software brings us a step closer to simulating realistic biomembranes with molecular resolution. Here we provide several interesting showcases of the power of the software but leave a wide range of potential applications for interested users.