Issue 1, 2017

Sticking and sliding of lipid bilayers on deformable substrates

Abstract

We examine here the properties of lipid bilayers coupled to deformable substrates. We show that by changing the extent of the substrate hydrophilicity, we can control the membrane–substrate coupling and the response of the bilayer to strain deformation. Our results demonstrate that lipid bilayers coupled to flexible substrates can easily accommodate large strains, form stable protrusions and open reversibly pores. These properties, which differ significantly from those of free standing membranes, can extend the applications of the current lipid technologies. Moreover, such systems better capture the mechanical architecture of the cell interface and can provide insights into the capacity of cells to reshape and respond to mechanical perturbations.

Graphical abstract: Sticking and sliding of lipid bilayers on deformable substrates

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
31 mar 2016
Accepted
10 jun 2016
First published
13 jun 2016
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Soft Matter, 2017,13, 181-186

Sticking and sliding of lipid bilayers on deformable substrates

L. Stubbington, M. Arroyo and M. Staykova, Soft Matter, 2017, 13, 181 DOI: 10.1039/C6SM00786D

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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