Journal of Advanced Chemical Engineering

Abstract

The Effect of Variable Spontaneous Curvature on Dynamic Evolution of Two-Phase Vesicle

Mohammad Mahdi Sahebifard, Alireza Shahidi and Saeed Ziaei-Rad

This article aims to study the effect of non-uniform distribution of spontaneous curvature on shape transformation of two-phase vesicles via an evolutionary method. Their dynamic evolution is developed based on conventional Helfrich theory, considering bending of the membrane and friction in the surrounding fluid in each phase with variable spontaneous curvature. The variation of spontaneous curvature is assumed to be a function of arc length in each domain considering the effects of inducing factors (surrounding solution concentration and the membrane-protein interactions such as scaffolding and insertion). Membrane pearling from a large vesicle is simulated by the model and compared with the result of constant curvature and also with empirical observations. It can be shown that accurate simulation of some membrane deformation mechanisms depends on careful consideration of key factors such as the SC variations. In addition, the importance of different uniform and non-uniform distributions of spontaneous curvature is discussed with reference to specific cases.