No Arabic abstract
Lipid membranes form the barrier between the inside and outside of cells and many of their subcompartments. As such, they bind to a wide variety of nano- and micrometer sized objects and, in the presence of strong adhesive forces, strongly deform and envelop particles. This wrapping plays a key role in many healthy and disease-related processes. So far, little work has focused on the dynamics of the wrapping process. Here, using a model system of micron-sized colloidal particles and giant unilamellar lipid vesicles with tunable adhesive forces, we measure the velocity of the particle during its wrapping process as well as the forces exerted on it by the lipid membrane. Dissipation at the contact line appears to be the main factor determining the wrapping velocity and time to wrap an object.
We have studied the collective short wavelength dynamics in deuterated DMPC bilayers by inelastic neutron scattering. The corresponding dispersion relation $hbaromega$(Q) is presented for the gel and fluid phase of this model system. The temperature dependence of the inelastic excitations indicates a phase coexistence between the two phases over a broad range and leads to a different assignment of excitations than that reported in a preceding inelastic x-ray scattering study [Phys. Rev. Lett. {bf 86}, 740 (2001)]. As a consequence, we find that the minimum in the dispersion relation is actually deeper in the gel than in the fluid phase. Finally, we can clearly identify an additional non-dispersive (optical) mode predicted by Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations [Phys. Rev. Lett. {bf 87}, 238101 (2001)].
The membrane curvature of cells and intracellular compartments continuously adapts to enable cells to perform vital functions, from cell division to signal trafficking. Understanding how membrane geometry affects these processes in vivo is challengin
Critical lateral pressure for a pore formation and phase diagram of porous membrane are derived analytically as functions of the microscopic parameters of the lipid chains. The derivation exploits path-integral calculation of the free energy of the ensembles of semi-flexible strings and rigid rods that mimic the hydrophobic tails of lipids in the lipid bilayers and bolalipid membranes respectively. Analytical expressions for the area stretch/compressibility moduli of the membranes are derived in both models.
When a ligand that is bound to an integral membrane receptor is pulled, the membrane and the underlying cytoskeleton can deform before either the membrane delaminates from the cytoskeleton or the ligand detaches from the receptor. If the membrane delaminates from the cytoskeleton, it may be further extruded and form a membrane tether. We develop a phenomenological model for this processes by assuming that deformations obey Hookes law up to a critical force at which the cell membrane locally detaches from the cytoskeleton and a membrane tether forms. We compute the probability of tether formation and show that they can be extruded only within an intermediate range of force loading rates and pulling velocities. The mean tether length that arises at the moment of ligand detachment is computed as are the force loading rates and pulling velocities that yield the longest tethers.
Experiments on supported lipid bilayers featuring liquid ordered/disordered domains have shown that the spatial arrangement of the lipid domains and their chemical composition are strongly affected by the curvature of the substrate. Furthermore, theoretical predictions suggest that both these effects are intimately related with the closed topology of the bilayer. In this work, we test this hypothesis by fabricating supported membranes consisting of colloidal particles of various shapes lying on a flat substrate. A single lipid bilayer coats both colloids and substrate, allowing local lipid exchange between them, thus rendering the system thermodynamically open, i.e. able to exchange heat and molecules with an external reservoir in the neighborhood of the colloid. By reconstructing the Gibbs phase diagram for this system, we demonstrate that the free-energy landscape is directly influenced by the geometry of the colloid. In addition, we find that local lipid exchange enhances the pinning of the liquid disordered phase in highly curved regions. This allows us to provide estimates of the bending moduli difference of the domains. Finally, by combining experimental and numerical data, we forecast the outcome of possible experiments on catenoidal and conical necks and show that these geometries could greatly improve the precision of the current estimates of the bending moduli.