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Inclusion-induced boundary layers in lipid vesicles

Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology volume 6, pages 297–301 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

The equilibrium shapes of lipid vesicles are perturbed by rigid inclusions. In a two-dimensional vesicle, that may also model a cylindrically elongated tubule, the shape modifications can be determined analytically, and turn out to be significant even far from the inclusion. On the contrary, previous numerical work has given evidence that in the three-dimensional case the shape perturbations decay quite rapidly and are negligible a few inclusion radii away. In this paper, we use the tools of asymptotic analysis to derive analytically the shape of the boundary layer induced by the inclusion. As a result, we are able to determine the dominant part of the free-energy perturbation that, in turn, allows to identify the vesicle points where the inclusion prefers to sit.

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Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Matematica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133, Milano, Italy

    Paolo Biscari & Gaetano Napoli

Authors
  1. Paolo Biscari
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  2. Gaetano Napoli
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Correspondence to Paolo Biscari.

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Biscari, P., Napoli, G. Inclusion-induced boundary layers in lipid vesicles. Biomech Model Mechanobiol 6, 297–301 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-006-0066-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-006-0066-6

Keywords

  • Shape Function
  • Lipid Vesicle
  • Equilibrium Shape
  • Rigid Inclusion
  • Apex Angle