Related papers: High-resolution structure of coexisting nanoscopic…
The growth of viscous two-dimensional lipid domains in contact with a viscoelastic actin network was recently shown to exhibit unusual lipid domain ripening due to the geometry and anisotropy of the actin network [Arnold & Takatori.…
At the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) self-associates to give rise to rapid muscle movement. While lipid domains have maintained nAChR aggregates in-vitro, their specific roles in nAChR clustering…
A molecular model is proposed of a bilayer consisting of fully saturated DPPC and mono unsaturated DOPC. The model not only encompasses the constant density within the hydrophobic core of the bilayer, but also the tendency of chain segments…
Understanding the (de)mixing behavior of multicomponent lipid bilayers is an important step towards unraveling the nature of spatial composition heterogeneities in cellular membranes and their role in biological function. We use…
Many ternary mixtures composed of saturated and unsaturated lipids with cholesterol (Chol) exhibit a region of coexistence between liquid-disordered $(L_d)$ and liquid-ordered $(L_o)$ domains, bearing some similarities to lipid rafts in…
The structure of membrane-active peptides and their interaction with lipid bilayers can be studied in oriented lipid membranes deposited on solid substrates. Such systems are desirable for a number of surface-sensitive techniques. Here we…
A systematic investigation of the phase separation dynamics in self-assembled multi-component bilayer fluid vesicles and open membranes is presented. We use large-scale dissipative particle dynamics to explicitly account for solvent,…
We employ 100 ns molecular dynamics simulations to study the influence of cholesterol on structural and dynamic properties of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayers in the fluid phase. The effects of the cholesterol content on the…
In an effort to understand ``rafts'' in biological membranes, we propose phenomenological models for saturated and unsaturated lipid mixtures, and lipid-cholesterol mixtures. We consider simple couplings between the local composition and…
Controlling the spatial distribution of liquid droplets on surfaces via surface energy patterning can be used to control material delivery to specified regions via selective liquid/solid wetting. While studies of the equilibrium shape of…
In spite of the great success that all-atom molecular dynamics simulations have seen in revealing the nature of the lipid bilayer, the interplay between a membrane's curvature and dynamics remains elusive. This is largely due to the…
We have studied the electrostatic screening effect of NaCl solutions on the interactions between anionic lipid bilayers in the fluid lamellar phase using a Poisson-Boltzmann based mean-field approach with constant charge and constant…
Lipid structures exhibit complex and highly dynamic lateral structure; and changes in lipid density and fluidity are believed to play an essential role in membrane targeting and function. The dynamic structure of liquids on the molecular…
The vesiculation process was examined in the lipid-detergent solution (dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-phoshatidylcholine/octaethylleneglycol n-dodecyl ether/water), using small-angle neutron scattering experiments \cite{1}. When observing…
The organization of lipids in biological membranes is essential for cellular functions such as signal transduction and membrane trafficking. A major challenge is how to control lateral lipid composition in supported membranes which are…
The effect of asymmetry in the transbilayer lipid distribution on the dynamics of phase separation in fluid vesicles is investigated numerically for the first time. This asymmetry is shown to set a spontaneous curvature for the domains that…
The spatio-temporal organization of proteins and the associated morphological changes in membranes are of importance in cell signaling. Several mechanisms that promote the aggregation of proteins at low cell surface concentrations have been…
The dynamics of phase separation in multi-component bilayer fluid vesicles is investigated by means of large-scale dissipative particle dynamics. The model explicitly accounts for solvent particles, thereby allowing for the very first…
Lipid domains are found in systems such as multi-component bilayer membranes and single component monolayers at the air-water interface. It was shown by Andelman et al. (Comptes Rendus 301, 675 (1985)) and McConnell et al. (Phys. Chem. {\bf…
Much of our understanding of the physical properties of raft domains in biological membranes, and some insight into the mechanisms underlying their formation stem from atomistic simulations of simple model systems, especially ternary…