Nanodomain formation in lipid bilayers I: Quantifying the nanoscopic miscibility transition with FRET.

ABSTRACT: We present a robust and easy-to-use methodology for determining the nanoscopic miscibility transition temperature, nm-Tmix , of lipid bilayer mixtures from FRET measurements. The method relies on the use of freely diffusing fluorescent donor and acceptor lipids that partition non-uniformly between coexisting phases. When this condition is met, changes in lipid clustering that occur as the sample passes through the transition result in abrupt changes in the spatial distribution of probes and consequently, abrupt changes in the FRET signal. FRET vs. temperature data can then be modeled with a phenomenological piecewise function that describes how the signal changes above and below nm-Tmix . Using lattice simulations, we show that the transition between these regimes occurs when the size of l

SUBMITTER: Chaisson EH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12636470 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature