Chapter 5. Physical basis of self-organization and function of membranes: physics of vesicles

E. Sackmann
Technische Universität München,
James-Franck-Strasse, D-85748 Garching, Germany

1. Introduction

2. Self-assembly and stability of lipid-bilayer-vesicles

3. Polymorphism and structural phase transitions of lipid bilayers .

3.1. Thermodynamic properties of structural phase transitions
3.2. Structure and surface topology of crystalline vesicles
3.3. Pertinent properties of the L_a-phase
3.4. Landau theory of L_a -> L_b -phase transition

4.1. Softness of the gel phase
4.2. Dynamic measure of chain order
4.3. Local and delocallized lateral diffusion: the free volume model
4.4. Dynamic surface roughness

5.1. Outline of elastic properties of vesicles
5.2. Elastic parameters of lipid vesicles and intercorrelations
5.3. Bending exitations of vesicles (‘flickering’): application and consequences

6.1. Charge induced phase transition
6.2. Hysteresis effects of charge-induced conformational changes of membranes

Synopsis
7.1. Classification of defects
7.2. Formation of buckled states in bilayers
7.3. On the possible role of defects as attractive centers for enzymatic processes
7.4. Lateral phase separation and enzyme activity [2b]
7.5. Fluctuation in membranes: precritical phenomena and lipid mediated protein-protein interactions

8.1. Lipid bilayer as 2D-solvent
8.2. Regular solution theory of lipid-lipid and lipid-protein mixtures
8.3. Lipid incompatibility and segregation
8.4. Calculation of phase diagrams by regular solution theory
8.5. Domain formation in mixed membranes, spinodal decomposition and coupling between phase separation and bending
8.6. Thermodynamics of lipid-protein interactions
8.7. Critical phenomena in mixed membranes