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Many lipid membrane-mediated transport processes--such as mechanically-gated channel activation and solute transport--involve structural and dynamical features on membrane thickness length scales. Most existing membrane models, however,…
Blebs are balloon-shaped membrane protrusions that form during many physiological processes. Using computer simulation of a particle-based model for self-assembled lipid bilayers coupled to an elastic meshwork, we investigated the phase…
The membrane curvature of cells and intracellular compartments continuously adapts to enable cells to perform vital functions, from cell division to signal trafficking. Understanding how membrane geometry affects these processes in vivo is…
The impact of nanomaterials on lung fluids or on the plasma membrane of living cells has prompted researchers to examine the interactions between nanoparticles and lipid vesicles. Recent studies have shown that nanoparticle-lipid…
A new method is proposed for the analysis of specular and off-specular reflectivity from supported lipid bilayers. Both thermal fluctuations and the "static" roughness induced by the substrate are carefully taken into account. Examples from…
We present a multi-scale density functional theory (DFT) informed molecular dynamics and tight-binding (TB) approach to capture the interdependent atomic and electronic structures of twisted bilayer graphene. We calibrate the flat band…
Active filaments, such as microtubules with attached cargo-carrying motor proteins, are important dynamic structures for fluid transport in and around living cells. The mathematical models of active filaments appearing in the literature…
Biomembranes consisting of two opposing phospholipid monolayers, which comprise the so-called lipid bilayer, are largely responsible for the dual solid-fluid behavior of individual cells and viruses. Quantifying the mechanical…
Twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) exhibits a wide range of intriguing physical properties, such as superconductivity, ferromagnetism, and superlubricity. Depending on the twist angle, periodic moir\'e superlattices form in twisted bilayer…
We study membrane-protein interactions and membrane-mediated protein-protein interactions by Monte Carlo simulations of a generic coarse-grained model for lipid bilayers with cylindrical hydrophobic inclusions. The strength of the…
Caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine), an ingredient of coffee, is used worldwide as a psychostimulant, antioxidant, and adjuvant analgesic. To gain insights into the action mechanism of caffeine, we report on its effects on the phase…
Understanding how lipid bilayers respond to pressure is essential for interpreting the coupling between membrane proteins and their native environments. Here, we use all-atom molecular dynamics to examine the pressure-temperature behavior…
The interplay of membrane proteins is vital for many biological processes, such as cellular transport, cell division, and signal transduction between nerve cells. Theoretical considerations have led to the idea that the membrane itself…
We present a simple coarse-grained bead-and-spring model for lipid bilayers. The system has been developed to reproduce the main (gel-liquid) transition of biological membranes on intermediate length scales of a couple of nanometres and is…
Mechanotransduction, the biological response to mechanical stress, is often initiated by the activation of mechanosensitive (MS) proteins upon mechanically induced deformations of the cell membrane. A current challenge to fully understand…
Lipid membranes are abundant in living organisms, where they constitute a surrounding shell for cells and their organelles. There are many circumstances in which the deformations of lipid membranes are involved in living cells: fusion and…
Molecular interactions are key to many chemical and biological processes like protein function. In many signaling processes they occur in sub-cellular areas displaying nanoscale organizations and involving molecular assemblies. The…
We discuss different mechanisms for curvature-induced domain formation in multicomponent lipid membranes and present a theoretical model that allows us to study the interplay between the domains. The model represents the membrane by two…
We have constructed a model for the kinetics of rupture of membranes under tension, applying physical principles relevant to lipid bilayers held together by hydrophobic interactions. The membrane is characterized by the bulk compressibility…
We report a new and facile method for measuring edge tensions of lipid membranes. The approach is based on electroporation of giant unilamellar vesicles and analysis of the pore closure dynamics. We applied this method to evaluate the edge…