Issue 32, 2013

Attractive asymmetric inclusions in elastic membranes under tension: cluster phases and membrane invaginations

Abstract

Up–down asymmetric inclusions impose a local, spontaneous curvature onto an elastic membrane. When several of them are inserted in the same membrane, they feel effective forces mediated by the membrane, both of elastic and entropic nature. Following an approach initiated by Dommersnes and Fournier in the vanishing tension case [Eur. Phys. J. B, 1999, 12, 9], and also using a pseudo-analytical micellization theory, we derive the statistical mechanics of asymmetric inclusion assemblies when they are also subject to an additional short-range, attractive interaction. Our main conclusion is that generically, when the membrane is under tension, these inclusions live in small clusters at equilibrium, leading to local membrane invaginations. We also propose a novel curvature-induced demixing mechanism: when inclusions imposing local curvatures of opposite sign coexist, they tend to demix in distinct clusters under realistic conditions. This work has potential implications in the context of the thermodynamics of proteins embedded in biological lipid bilayers.

Graphical abstract: Attractive asymmetric inclusions in elastic membranes under tension: cluster phases and membrane invaginations

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 Apr 2013
Accepted
14 Jun 2013
First published
14 Jun 2013

Soft Matter, 2013,9, 7804-7816

Attractive asymmetric inclusions in elastic membranes under tension: cluster phases and membrane invaginations

S. Weitz and N. Destainville, Soft Matter, 2013, 9, 7804 DOI: 10.1039/C3SM50954K

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