Complementary Matching in Domain Formation within Lipid Bilayers

Stevens, Mark J.

doi:10.1021/ja043611q

Cited by 49 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The possible occurrence of these phases was emphasized by the earlier works 22,25 , and their possible manifestations in coupled bilayers has recently been explored 27 . Indeed these structures have been observed in some simulations of bilayers as predicted 28,29 . Within mean-field theory, transitions between all phases are of first order except at a critical point which can occur when the average compositions of the two leaves are identical.…”

Section: The Bilayer With Coupled Curvature-composition Fluctuationsmentioning

confidence: 56%

Membrane heterogeneity: Manifestation of a curvature-induced microemulsion

Schick

2012

Phys. Rev. E

150

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To explain the appearance of heterogeneities in the plasma membrane, I propose a hypothesis which begins with the observation that fluctuations in the membrane curvature are coupled to the difference between compositions in one leaf and the other. Because of this coupling, the most easily excited fluctuations can occur at non-zero wavenumbers. When the coupling is sufficiently strong, it is well-known that it leads to microphase separation and modulated phases. I note that when the coupling is less strong, the tendency towards modulation remains manifest in a liquid phase that exhibits transient structure of a characteristic size; that is, it is a microemulsion. The characteristic size of the fluctuating domains is estimated to be on the order of 100 nm, and experiments to verify this hypothesis are proposed.

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Section: The Bilayer With Coupled Curvature-composition Fluctuationsmentioning

confidence: 56%

Membrane heterogeneity: Manifestation of a curvature-induced microemulsion

Schick

2012

Phys. Rev. E

150

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“…Stevens [79] then studied the thermotropic phase behavior of bilayers formed by model lipids of varying chain length, and found a gel-to-fluid phase transition, as further discussed in Section 3.1. The model was also used to investigate domain formation in bilayers made of a mixture of long and short lipids [80], finding that at a temperature between the melting temperatures of the short and the long lipids, gel domains form. Within these domains, a complementary organization is found, in which long lipids on one side of the bilayer are faced by short ones on the opposite side.…”

Section: Empirical Coarse-grained Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mesoscopic models of biological membranes

Venturoli¹,

et al. 2006

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Phospholipids are the main components of biological membranes and dissolved in water these molecules self-assemble into closed structures, of which bilayers are the most relevant from a biological point of view. Lipid bilayers are often used, both in experimental and by theoretical investigations, as model systems to understand the fundamental properties of biomembranes. The properties of lipid bilayers can be studied at different time and length scales. For some properties it is sufficient to envision a membrane as an elastic sheet, while for others it is important to take into account the details of the individual atoms. In this review, we focus on an intermediate level, where groups of atoms are lumped into pseudo-particles to arrive at a coarse-grained, or mesoscopic, description of a bilayer, which is subsequently studied using molecular simulation.The aim of this review is to compare various strategies to coarse grain a biological membrane. The conclusion of this comparison is that there can be many valid different strategies, but that the results obtained by the various mesoscopic models are surprisingly consistent. A second objective of this review is to illustrate how mesoscopic models can be used to obtain a better understanding of experimental systems. The advantage of coarse-grained models is that these can be simulated very efficiently, so that phenomena involving large systems, or requiring a large number of simulations, can be studied in detail. This is illustrated with the study of the relation between the phase behavior of a membrane and the structure of the phospholipids, and the membrane structural changes due to molecules (such as alcohols, cholesterol and anesthetics) adsorbed to the membrane. We then discuss the effect of transmembrane peptides on the local structure of a membrane and the mechanism of vesicle fusion and fission.

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“…Experimental work has shown direct evidence of interleaflet coupling in the form of domain alignment between the bilayer leaflets in symmetric giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) and supported bilayers 51,[54][55][56][57] . An alternative coupling mechanism has also been reported, manifested as anti-correlation in small (nm) or solid domains [58][59][60][61][62] . Owing to recent advance in generating asymmetric vesicle models, calorimetric measurements of melting transitions in these asymmetric models also supported the notion of interleaflet coupling 63 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Lateral organization, bilayer asymmetry, and inter-leaflet coupling of biological membranes

Nickels

Smith

Cheng

2015

Chemistry and Physics of Lipids

108

115

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Understanding of cell membrane organization has evolved significantly from the classic fluid mosaic model. It is now recognized that biological membranes are highly organized structures, with differences in lipid compositions between inner and outer leaflets and in lateral structures within the bilayer plane, known as lipid rafts. These organizing principles are important for protein localization and function as well as cellular signaling. However, the mechanisms and biophysical basis of lipid raft formation, structure, dynamics and function are not clearly understood. One key question, which we focus on in this review, is how lateral organization and leaflet compositional asymmetry are coupled. Detailed information elucidating this question has been sparse because of the small size and transient nature of rafts and the experimental challenges in constructing asymmetric bilayers. Resolving this mystery will require advances in both experimentation and modeling. We discuss here the preparation of model systems along with experimental and computational approaches that have been applied in efforts to address this key question in membrane biology. We seek to place recent and future advances in experimental and computational techniques in context, providing insight into in-plane and transverse organization of biological membranes.

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Complementary Matching in Domain Formation within Lipid Bilayers

Cited by 49 publications

References 15 publications

Membrane heterogeneity: Manifestation of a curvature-induced microemulsion

Membrane heterogeneity: Manifestation of a curvature-induced microemulsion

Mesoscopic models of biological membranes

Lateral organization, bilayer asymmetry, and inter-leaflet coupling of biological membranes

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