Molecular mechanisms of spontaneous curvature and softening in complex lipid bilayer mixtures.

ABSTRACT: Membrane reshaping is an essential biological process. The chemical composition of lipid membranes determines their mechanical properties and thus the energetics of their shape. Hundreds of distinct lipid species make up native bilayers, and this diversity complicates efforts to uncover what compositional factors drive membrane stability in cells. Simplifying assumptions, therefore, are used to generate quantitative predictions of bilayer dynamics based on lipid composition. One assumption commonly used is that "per lipid" mechanical properties are both additive and constant-that they are an intrinsic property of lipids independent of the surrounding composition. Related to this is the assumption that lipid bulkiness, or "shape," determines its curvature preference, independently of contex

SUBMITTER: Lessen HJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9463698 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature