The stretching elasticity of biomembranes determines their line tension and bending rigidity

Luca Deseri, Giuseppe Zurlo

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    27 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    In this work, some implications of a recent model for the mechanical behavior of biological membranes (Deseri et al. in Continuum Mech Thermodyn 20(5):255-273, 2008) are exploited by means of a prototypical one-dimensional problem. We show that the knowledge of the membrane stretching elasticity permits to establish a precise connection among surface tension, bending rigidities and line tension during phase transition phenomena. For a specific choice of the stretching energy density, we evaluate these quantities in a membrane with coexistent fluid phases, showing a satisfactory comparison with the available experimental measurements. Finally, we determine the thickness profile inside the boundary layer where the order-disorder transition is observed.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)1233-1242
    Number of pages10
    JournalBiomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology
    Volume12
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Nov 2013

    Keywords

    • Bending rigidity
    • Biomembranes
    • Line tension
    • Lipid bilayers
    • Phase transitions
    • Stretching elasticity

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biotechnology
    • Mechanical Engineering
    • Modeling and Simulation

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