Polyhedral vesicles: a Brownian dynamics simulation

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2003 Apr;67(4 Pt 1):041901. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.67.041901. Epub 2003 Apr 2.

Abstract

Polyhedral vesicles with a large bending modulus of the membrane, such as a gel phase lipid membrane, were studied using a Brownian dynamics simulation. The vesicles exhibited various polyhedral morphologies such as tetrahedron and cube shapes. We clarified two types of line defects on the edges of the polyhedrons: cracks of both monolayers at the spontaneous curvature of the monolayer C0<0, and a crack of the inner monolayer at C0> or =0. The inner monolayer curved positively around the latter defect. Our results suggest that the polyhedral morphology is controlled by C0.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biophysical Phenomena
  • Biophysics*
  • Lipids / chemistry*
  • Models, Statistical
  • Temperature

Substances

  • Lipids