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

Luca Deseri, Giuseppe Zurlo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 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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