dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaElectrostatic Edge Instability of Lipid Membranes
| Authors | M. D. Betterton, Michael P. Brenner |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/9812033 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9812033 |
| DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.1598 |
| Journal | Physical Review Letters, vol 82, 1598-1601 (1999) |
Abstract
This paper considers the effect of electrostatics on the stability of a charged membrane. We show that at low ionic strength and high surface charge density, repulsion between charges on the membrane renders it unstable to the formation of holes. A free straight edge is unstable to modulations with wavelength longer than the Debye screening length. Hence at low ionic strength, membranes will disintegrate into vesicles. We use these results to interpret stable holes in red blood cell ghosts (Steck et. al., Science 168:255(1970)).
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"abstract": "This paper considers the effect of electrostatics on the stability of a\ncharged membrane. We show that at low ionic strength and high surface charge\ndensity, repulsion between charges on the membrane renders it unstable to the\nformation of holes. A free straight edge is unstable to modulations with\nwavelength longer than the Debye screening length. Hence at low ionic strength,\nmembranes will disintegrate into vesicles. We use these results to interpret\nstable holes in red blood cell ghosts (Steck et. al., Science 168:255(1970)).",
"arxiv_id": "physics/9812033",
"authors": [
"M. D. Betterton",
"Michael P. Brenner"
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"doi": "10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.1598",
"journal_ref": "Physical Review Letters, vol 82, 1598-1601 (1999)",
"title": "Electrostatic Edge Instability of Lipid Membranes",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9812033"
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