Membrane Biophysics

Led by Dr. Richard Pastor, the lab is combining experiments on simplified membranes with the fundamental principles and simulation techniques of physics to understand and model cell membranes on the atomic level.

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Featured Publications

Design principles of PI(4,5)P2 clustering under protein-free conditions: Specific cation effects and calcium-potassium synergy.

Authors: Han K, Kim SH, Venable RM, Pastor RW
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022 May 31;119(22):
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Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Membrane Permeability.

Authors: Venable RM, Krämer A, Pastor RW
Chem Rev 2019 Feb 12;119(9):5954-5997
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Simulations of Membrane-Disrupting Peptides II: AMP Piscidin 1 Favors Surface Defects over Pores.

Authors: Perrin BS Jr, Fu R, Cotten ML, Pastor RW
Biophys J 2016 Sep 20;111(6):1258-66
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Update of the CHARMM all-atom additive force field for lipids: validation on six lipid types.

Authors: Klauda JB, Venable RM, Freites JA, O'Connor JW, Tobias DJ, Mondragon-Ramirez C, Vorobyov I, MacKerell, Pastor RW
J Phys Chem B 2010 Jun 17;114(23):7830-43
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Molecular dynamics simulations of a lipid bilayer and of hexadecane: an investigation of membrane fluidity.

Authors: Venable RM, Zhang Y, Hardy BJ, Pastor RW
Science 1993 Oct 08;262(5131):223-6
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Meet the Team

pastor

Richard Pastor, Ph.D.

Senior Investigator

Richard Pastor earned an M.S. in chemistry from Syracuse University in 1977 and a Ph.D. in biophysics from Harvard University in 1984. He joined the NIH in 1984 as a staff fellow in the Laboratory of Chemical Physics at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, before spending more than a decade with the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at the Food and Drug Administration. In 2006 he rejoined NIH and is currently Chief of the Laboratory of Membrane Biophysics. In 1996 he received an Excellence in Science by a Group award from the FDA, and the Center Director’s Public Health Achievement Award from the CBER in 1997. Dr. Pastor has authored or coauthored more than 150 papers or book chapters, and won the 2021 Avanti Award from the Biophysical Society. He is a reviewer for numerous journals, including the Biophysical Journal, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal of Physical Chemistry, Journal of Chemical Physics, Journal of Computational Chemistry, and Biochemistry.

View Dr. Pastor's CV here.

Contact the lab

12 South Dr
Bethesda, MD 20814
United States
Phone:
301-435-2035
Fax:
301-480-6496
Amy Rice

Amy Rice, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
Anthony Pane

Anthony Pane

Postbaccalaureate Fellow