Speaker
Michael A Lomholt
(MEMPHYS - Center for Biomembrane Physics, University of Southern Denmark)
Description
When lipid molecules in a bilayer freeze they tend to lower
the area that they occupy in the membrane. Thus during the
nucleation process of a solid domain of lipids the
nucleating domain will have to pull against the local
tension in the bilayer, an effect that will lower the rate
at which these domains nucleate. In this talk I will present
a model of domain nucleation and growth, which explains how
the dynamics of the tension via this effect can determine
the distribution of nucleation points observed in
experiments on supported lipid bilayers. The friction
between the bilayer and the support plays an important role
in this model, by slowing down the relaxation of locally
increased tension.
