Fluid lipid bilayers: Intermonolayer coupling and its thermodynamic manifestations

Fluid lipid bilayers: Intermonolayer coupling and its thermodynamic manifestations

Effect of intermonolayer coupling on the phase behavior of lipid bilayers.

Thermal undulations of lipid bilayers relax by intermonolayer friction at submicrometer length scales.

The time correlation functions of the thermal undulations of a lipid membrane have been studied by molecular dynamics simulations of a coarse-grained bilayer model. We observe a double-exponential decay, with relaxation rates in good agreement with the theory by Seifert and Langer, [Europhys. Lett. 23, 71 (1993)]. Intermonolayer friction resulting from local velocity differences between the two...

Interleaflet coupling and domain registry in phase-separated lipid bilayers.

There is clear evidence of an interleaflet coupling in model lipid/cholesterol membranes exhibiting liquid-liquid phase separation. The strength of this coupling is quantified by the mismatch free energy, γ. We calculate it using a molecular mean-field model of a phase-separated lipid/cholesterol bilayer and obtain values that increase as the concentration of saturated lipids in the coexisting ...

A versatile approach to the generation of fluid supported lipid bilayers and its applications.

Establishing supported lipid bilayers with biologically relevant composition, including transmembrane proteins and various classes of lipids, presents a significant challenge. We describe a generic and facile approach to the production of fluid polymer-supported lipid bilayers that allows for the incorporation of a wide variety of lipids and transmembrane proteins. The method is based on the fo...