Molecular dynamics investigation of small molecule interactions with bacterial cell membranes

Unlike mammalian cell walls which consists primarily of a lipid bilayer with transmembrane and membrane inserted proteins, the bacterial cell wall is significantly more complex than the mammalian cell wall. We are involved in developing molecular models for the structure of the bacterial cell membrane in order to study the free energy of transport of small molecules across the cell membrane. Understanding small molecule transport across the bacterial cell membrane plays a significant role in our understanding of anti-bacterial action. This is a problem of paramount importance in light of the growing bacterial resistance in recent decades.