Dissipative curvature fluctuations in bilayer vesicles: Coexistence of pure-bending and hybrid curvature-compression modes

Eur Phys J E Soft Matter. 2010 Jan;31(1):105-13. doi: 10.1140/epje/i2010-10551-1. Epub 2010 Jan 20.

Abstract

We have studied the relaxation dynamics of shape fluctuations in unilamellar lipid vesicles by neutron spin echo (NSE). The presence of a hybrid curvature-compression mode coexisting with the usual bending one has been revealed in the experimental relaxation functions at high q . Differently to the conventional relaxation approximately q (3) typical for bending modes, the hybrid mode was found to relax as approximately q (2) , which is compatible with a dissipation mechanism arising from intermonolayer friction. Complementary data obtained from flickering spectroscopy (FS) in giant unilamellar vesicles confirm the existence of both modes coexisting together. By combining NSE and FS data we have depicted the experimental bimodal dispersion diagram, which is found compatible with theoretical predictions for reliable values of the material parameters. From the present data two conventional dynamical methods (NSE and FS) have been shown to be suitable for measuring intermonolayer friction coefficients in bilayer vesicles.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cholesterol / chemistry
  • Cholesterol / metabolism
  • Compressive Strength*
  • Friction
  • Lipid Bilayers / chemistry*
  • Membrane Fluidity*
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation
  • Neutron Diffraction
  • Spectrum Analysis
  • Torsion, Mechanical*
  • Unilamellar Liposomes / chemistry*

Substances

  • Lipid Bilayers
  • Unilamellar Liposomes
  • Cholesterol