1995/10/31 by Jonathan V. Selinger, J. V. Selinger, F. C. MacKintosh +2 · 3 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry #Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior #Supramolecular Self-Assembly in Materials #cond-mat
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.53.3804
published as Phys. Rev. E 53, 3804 (1996) · 43 pages, including 12 postscript figures, uses REVTeX 3.0 and epsf.sty
arxiv created 1995/12/05 · openalex publication_date 1996/04/01 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present a general theory for the equilibrium structure of cylindrical tubules and helical ribbons of chiral lipid membranes. This theory is based on a continuum elastic free energy that permits variations in the direction of molecular tilt and in the curvature of the membrane. The theory shows that the formation of tubules and helical ribbons is driven by the chirality of the membrane. Tubules have a first-order transition from a uniform state to a helically modulated state, with periodic stripes in the tilt direction and ripples in the curvature. Helical ribbons can be stable structures or unstable intermediate states in the formation of tubules. \textcopyright 1996 The American Physical Society.