GPU-Based Massive Parallel Kawasaki Kinetics in the Dynamic Monte Carlo Simulations of Lipid Nanodomains.

Abstract

Multicomponent lipid membranes in the liquid phase exhibit dynamic lateral heterogeneities which play an important role in specific cell membrane functions. A GPU-based parallel algorithm for two-dimensional lattice Dynamic Monte Carlo simulations of nanodomain formation in binary lipid membranes was developed and tested. Speedups of up to 50-times over CPU-based calculations were achieved, and simulations employing lattices of up to 1800 × 1800 sites were performed. The existence of large nonregular lipid domains of sizes up to 160 nm was demonstrated. This reveals the necessity to employ lattices of at least ∼900 × 900 sites to study the lateral lipid organization in complex lipid membranes.