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The behavior of lipid membranes in the presence of an external electric field is studied and used to examine the influence of such fields on membrane parameters such as roughness and show that for a micro sized membrane, roughness grows as…
Lipid membranes form the barrier between the inside and outside of cells and many of their subcompartments. As such, they bind to a wide variety of nano- and micrometer sized objects and, in the presence of strong adhesive forces, strongly…
Bilayer lipid membranes [BLMs] are an essential component of all biological systems, forming a functional barrier for cells and organelles from the surrounding environment. The lipid molecules that form membranes contain both permanent and…
Current fluctuations in pure lipid membranes have been shown to occur under the influence of transmembrane electric fields (electroporation) as well as a result from structural rearrangements of the lipid bilayer during phase transition…
Hybridization effects play a crucial role in determining the electronic properties of hybrid inorganic/organic interfaces. To gain insight into these important interactions, we perform a first-principles study based on hybrid…
Understanding the molecular mechanisms driving the binding between bio-molecules is a crucial challenge in molecular biology. In this respect, characteristics like the preferentially hydrophobic composition of the binding interfaces, the…
We develop theory and computational methods to investigate particle inclusions embedded within curved lipid bilayer membranes. We consider the case of spherical lipid vesicles where inclusion particles are coupled through (i) intramembrane…
Constancy of life vitally depends on the internalization of particles through biomembranes. Of particular interest, cellular uptake, including phagocytosis, receptor-mediated endocytosis, and membrane fusion, critically depends on the…
A numerical and systematic parameter study of three-dimensional vesicle electrohydrodynamics is presented to investigate the effects of different fluid and membrane properties. The dynamics of vesicles in the presence of DC electric fields…
Cationic lipid membranes are known to form compact complexes with DNA and to be effective as gene delivery agents both in vitro and in vivo. Here we employ molecular dynamics simulations for a detailed atomistic study of lipid bilayers…
Vesicle fusion is an important process underlying cell division, transport, and membrane trafficking. In phospholipid systems, a range of fusogens including divalent cations and depletants have been shown to induce adhesion, hemifusion, and…
The study of interactions between biomimetic membranes and micron-sized particles is crucial for understanding various biological processes. Here, we control microparticle spontaneous engulfment by giant lipid vesicles by tuning particle…
Adhesive cell-substrate interactions are crucial for cell motility and are responsible for the necessary traction that propels cells. These interactions can also change the shape of the cell, analogous to liquid droplet wetting on adhesive…
Lipid bilayers forming biological membranes are known to behave as viscous 2D fluids on submicrometer scales; usually they contain a large number of active protein inclusions. Recently, it has been shown [Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 112,…
Spatially uniform electric fields have been used to induce instabilities in liquids and polymers, and to orient and deform ordered phases of block-copolymers. Here we discuss the demixing phase transition occurring in liquid mixtures when…
The structure and thermodynamic state of a system changes under the influence of external electric fields. Neutral systems are characterized by their dielectric constant epsilon, while charged ones also by their charge distribution. In this…
The elastic properties of a self-assembled bilayer membrane are studied using the self-consistent field theory, applied to a model system composed of flexible amphiphilic chains dissolved in hydrophilic polymeric solvents. Examining the…
The behavior of lipid bilayer is important to understand the functionality of cells like the trafficking of ions between cells. Standard procedures to explore the properties of lipid bilayer and hemifused states typically use either…
A model system has been recently developed to study adhesion. It consists of a giant lipid bilayer vesicle with reconstituted lipo-polymers (repellers) as well as with lipo-ligands recognized by receptors covering the substrate. Adhesion in…
Surfaces of metal oxides at working conditions are usually electrified due to the acid-base chemistry. The charged interface compensated with counterions forms the so-called electric double layer. The coupling of surface chemistry and…