Multi-Scale Modelisation of the Optical Second Harmonic Generation of Tyrosine-Containing Iturinic Antimicrobial Lipopeptides

The optical Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) of Mycosubtilin Langmuir Layers at the air/water interface are modeled. In this tyrosine-containing lipopepeptide, the environment of the tyrosine residue is critical in defining the SHG response. To propose reasonable the structure of Mycosubtilin aggregates at the air-water interface, molecular dynamics simulations (all-atom and coarse-grained) are performed. Molecular hyperpolarizability of the lipopeptide are obtained by Quantum Chemistry calculations. Finally, the SHG susceptibilities of the interface are calculated using a simple additive model. The molecular dynamics simulations suggest that lipopeptides aggregate at the interface into half-micelles, and that this phenomena is the origin of a constraint on Tyrosine orientation. In particular the C-OH bond of the Tyrosine residue has a preferential orientation along the interface normal, pointing towards the air. This inhomogneneous orientation distribution, associated with a dominant hyperpolarizability component along the C-OH bond of the Tyrosine, yields a characteristic SHG response. Comparison with experimental data gathered in our lab are proposed.