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Determining the bending modulus of a lipid membrane by simulating buckling
Mingyang Hu1, Patrick Diggins, Markus Deserno
1Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.
The Journal of Chemical Physics
|June 14, 2013
Summary
Buckling setups can accurately measure lipid membrane bending rigidity. This study provides precise analytical expressions and confirms buckling
Area of Science:
- Soft Matter Physics
- Materials Science
- Biophysics
Background:
- Bending rigidity is a key property of lipid membranes.
- Buckling phenomena offer a potential method for measuring this property.
Purpose of the Study:
- To derive accurate analytical expressions for buckling forces in elastic surfaces.
- To investigate the influence of thermal fluctuations on buckling.
- To validate a buckling protocol for measuring lipid membrane bending rigidity across various models.
Main Methods:
- Systematic derivation of analytical expressions for buckling forces.
- Application of a surface stress tensor framework.
- Estimation of thermal fluctuation corrections.
- Testing the buckling protocol on four distinct lipid membrane models.
Main Results:
- Highly accurate analytical expressions for buckling forces were derived.
- Thermal fluctuations were found to be significant only for stresses along ridges.
- Buckling proved to be a reliable and accurate method for measuring rigidity in all tested lipid membrane models.
- Monitoring stresses and energies provided thermodynamic insights into curvature elasticity.
Conclusions:
- Buckling is a robust and accurate method for determining lipid membrane bending rigidity.
- The derived analytical expressions enhance understanding of buckling mechanics.
- Simulations offer thermodynamic insights and predictive capabilities for bending rigidity across temperatures.
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