Avtor/Urednik     Svetina, S; Božič, B; Majhenc, J; Žekš, B
Naslov     Mechanical properties of closed lamellar membranes and cellular processes
Tip     članek
Vir     Nonlinear Anal-Theor
Vol. in št.     Letnik 47, št. 1
Leto izdaje     2001
Obseg     str. 269-80
Jezik     eng
Abstrakt     The paper considers cellular processes that involve changes in membrane conformation. A general oveview of the relationship between the mechanical properties of lamellar membranes and the shapes of vesicles and cells is given. Variational procedures are described for calculating the equilibrium shapes of simple vesicular objects, based on the assumption that these shapes correspond to the minimum of the sun of the membrane local and nonlocal bending energies. The two properties of closed lamellar membranes which could form a physical basis for biological processes are proposed to be the symmetry breaking in vesicle shape behavior and vesicle budding. The cellular processes are discussed on the basis of the hypothesis that the shape behavior of simple vesicular objects may serve as a framework for their analysis. It is proposed that the description of certain cellular processes requires the inclusion of energy contributions additional to the membrane bending energy, and/or the involvement of cytoplasmic structures which exert forces on the membrane. Several specific examples are used to demonstrate that such generalizations may help reveal the functional role of certain cell consistents.
Deskriptorji     MEMBRANES, ARTIFICIAL
LIPID BILAYERS
PHOSPHOLIPIDS
MEMBRANE FLUIDITY
PARTICLE SIZE
ERYTHROCYTE MEMBRANE
MEMBRANE FUSION
MODELS, THEORETICAL