Bending stiffness of lipid bilayers: IV. Interpretation of red cell shape change.

AUTOR(ES)

Fischer, T M

RESUMO

Two mechanisms are operative when the resting shape of human red cells is changed into an echinocyte or a stomatocyte. The first (bilayer couple) is a differential change in the surface area of the two monolayers. It rests on the two-dimensional isotropic elasticity of the two monolayers and their fixed distance. The second (single layer) is a change in the average cone angle of the molecules comprising a monolayer. It rests on the intrinsic bending elasticity of each single layer. With a few exceptions the first mechanism has been quoted to interpret experimentally observed shape changes. To reconsider this preference two types of spontaneous curvatures (in bilayer couple bending and in single-layer bending) are defined. It is shown that (a) disregarding the single-layer mechanism is not justified and (b) there is too little basic information for quantitative interpretations of shape change.

Documentos Relacionados

• Effects of lutein and cholesterol on alkyl chain bending in lipid bilayers: a pulse electron spin resonance spin labeling study.
• Peptide Nanopores and Lipid Bilayers: Interactions by Coarse-Grained Molecular-Dynamics Simulations
• Partitioning of long-chain alcohols into lipid bilayers: implications for mechanisms of general anesthesia.
• Bending Stiffness Depends on Curvature of Ternary Lipid Mixture Tubular Membranes
• Interaction of the influenza hemagglutinin fusion peptide with lipid bilayers: area expansion and permeation.