Biological systems function cooperatively across different spatial and temporal scales, from nanoscale biomolecules to microscale cells, and to macroscale tissues and organs. To understand biological function mechanisms it is important to study biological systems in a multiscale fashion. Multiscale modeling is an approach to understanding the biomechanics, biophysics and biochemistry underlying biological systems by integrating computational models from the molecular to the continuum level across widely different spatial and temporal scales.

The seminar will begin by introducing research efforts into modeling biological systems at the biomolecule, biomembrane, tissue and organ levels. The focus of the presentation is a biomembrane modeling project that aims at understanding the molecular mechanisms of the effect of salicylate (metabolite of aspirin) on hearing through influences on outer hair cell electromotility. In this study, we investigated the effect of salicylate on the microscopic and mesoscopic properties of a biological membrane via atomically-detailed molecular dynamics simulations. The results show that salicylate influences the electrostatic properties of a lipid bilayer, with significant changes at the water-lipid bilayer interface. However, salicylate does not significantly alter the mechanical properties of the lipid bilayer. The observations from the study are in qualitative agreement with experimental data.

The final goal of future research is to realize multiscale modeling by coupling atomically detailed models with continuum models in order to study biological events across different spatial and temporal scales. This will allow us to understand biological system functions and injury mechanisms.