Molecular dynamics simulation study of xyloglucan adsorption on cellulose surfaces: Effects of surface hydrophobicity and side-chain variation

The effect of surface hydrophobicity and side-chain variation on xyloglucan adsorption onto cellulose microfibrils (CMF) is investigated via molecular dynamics simulations. A molecular model of CMF with (100), (010), (1-10), (110) and (200) crystal faces was built. We considered xylogluco-oligosaccharides (XGO) with three repeating units, namely (XXXG)_3, (XXLG)₃, and (XXFG)₃ (where each (1,4)-β-d-glucosyl residue in the backbone is given a one-letter code according to its substituents: G = β-d-Glc; X = α-d-Xyl-(1,6)-β-d-Glc; L = β-d-Gal-(1,2)-α-d-Xyl-(1,6)-β-d-Glc; F = α-l-Fuc-(1,2)-β-d-Gal-(1,2)-α-d-Xyl-(1,6)-β-d-Glc). Our work shows that (XXXG)₃ binds more favorably to the CMF (100) and (200) hydrophobic surfaces than to the (110), (010) and (1-10) hydrophilic surfaces. The origin of this behavior is attributed to the topography of hydrophobic CMF surface, which stabilizes (XXXG)₃ in flat conformation. In contrast, on the rough hydrophilic CMF surface (XXXG)₃ adopts a less favorable random-coil conformation to facilitate more hydrogen bonds with the surface. Extending the xyloglucan side chains from (XXXG)₃ to (XXLG)₃ hinders their stacking on the CMF hydrophobic surface. For (XXFG)₃, the interaction with the hydrophobic surface is as strong as (XXXG)₃. All three XGOs have similar binding to the hydrophilic surface. Steered molecular dynamics simulation was performed on an adhesive model where (XXXG)₃ was sandwiched between two CMF hydrophobic surfaces. Our analysis suggests that this sandwich structure might help provide mechanical strength for plant cell walls. Our study relates to a recently revised model of primary cell walls in which extensibility is largely determined by xyloglucan located in limited regions of tight contact between CMFs.