Xenon-Induced Recovery of Functional Activity of Pulmonary Surfactant (In Silico Study)

To understand the nature of xenon-induced recovery of the functional activity of pulmonary surfactant during inhalation of a gas mixture of Xe/O2, the mechanisms of the ongoing processes were studiedin silico. Impaired ability of pulmonary surfactant to maintain low surface tension preventing alveolar atelectasis occurs due to formation of aggregates of its phospholipids and a decrease in their lateral mobility. Aggregated lipid systems, whose structure can explain the loss of lateral mobility of surfactant phospholipids, were modeledin silico at the molecular level. Changes in the Gibbs energy and enthalpy in the reactions of the formation and decomposition of xenon intermediates with model systems of various compositions/structures were calculated. The simulation was carried out for atomic xenon and for xenon polarized by molecular oxygen in the gas phase and taking into account solvation with water. The loss of lateral mobility of phospholipids can be explained by specific features of electronic structure of hydrophobic hydrocarbon molecules (acyl chains), which, under certain conditions, are capable of forming structured common regions of the electrostatic potential, to which xenon has an affinity. In this case, inclusion coordination compounds of the “guest—host” type are formed, which subsequently decompose due to the nature of the polarization of the Xe atoms. The formation and decomposition of xenon intermediates in these systems lead to recovery of the lateral ...
Source: Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine - Category: Biology Source Type: research