Hydrodynamics of molecular rotors in lipid membranes
Soft Condensed Matter
2024-12-13 v2 Biological Physics
Abstract
Molecular rotors form twisted conformations upon photoexcitation, with their fluorescent relaxation time serving as a measure of viscosity. They have been used to assess membrane viscosities but yield higher values compared to other methods. Here, we show that the rotor's relaxation time is influenced by a combination of membrane viscosity and interleaflet friction. We present a theory for the relaxation time and obtain a correction factor that accounts for the discrepancy. If the membrane's viscosity is known, molecular rotors may enable the extraction of the elusive interleaflet friction.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2408.01280,
title = {Hydrodynamics of molecular rotors in lipid membranes},
author = {Vinny C. Suja and Naomi Oppenheimer and Howard A. Stone},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2408.01280},
year = {2024}
}