Journal article
Effect of intrinsic curvature and edge tension on the stability of binary mixed-membrane three-junctions
The Journal of chemical physics, v 145(7), pp 074901-074901
21 Aug 2016
PMID: 27544120
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
We use a combination of coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations and theoretical modeling to examine three-junctions in mixed lipid bilayer membranes. These junctions are localized defect lines in which three bilayers merge in such a way that each bilayer shares one monolayer with one of the other two bilayers. The resulting local morphology is non-lamellar, resembling the threefold symmetric defect lines in inverse hexagonal phases, but it regularly occurs during membrane fission and fusion events. We realize a system of junctions by setting up a honeycomb lattice, which in its primitive cell contains two hexagons and four three-line junctions, permitting us to study their stability as well as their line tension. We specifically consider the effects of lipid composition and intrinsic curvature in binary mixtures, which contain a fraction of negatively curved lipids in a curvature-neutral background phase. Three-junction stability results from a competition between the junction and an open edge, which arises if one of the three bilayers detaches from the other two. We show that the stable phase is the one with the lower defect line tension. The strong and opposite monolayer curvatures present in junctions and edges enhance the mole fraction of negatively curved lipids in junctions and deplete it in edges. This lipid sorting affects the two line tensions and in turn the relative stability of the two phases. It also leads to a subtle entropic barrier for the transition between junction and edge that is absent in uniform membranes.
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Details
- Title
- Effect of intrinsic curvature and edge tension on the stability of binary mixed-membrane three-junctions
- Creators
- Jasmine M Gardner - Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USAMarkus Deserno - Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USACameron F Abrams - Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
- Publication Details
- The Journal of chemical physics, v 145(7), pp 074901-074901
- Publisher
- American Institute of Physics (AIP); United States
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Chemical and Biological Engineering
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000381680700041
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84982219429
- Other Identifier
- 991014878579304721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Chemistry, Physical
- Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical