Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 9: Posters: Membranes

BP 9.1: Poster

Monday, March 11, 2013, 17:30–19:30, Poster B2

Simulation of supported lipid bilayer formation — •Marc Fuhrmans and Marcus Müller — Theoretische Physik, Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Deutschland

Exposition of unilamellar vesicles to attractive surfaces is a frequently used way to create supported lipid bilayers. Although this approach is known to produce continuous supported bilayers, the mechanism of their formation and its dependence on factors like surface roughness or membrane tension as well as the interplay between neighboring vesicles or the involvement of pre-adsorbed bilayer patches are not understood very well.

We have used dissipative particle dynamics simulations to assess different mechanisms of vesicle spreading on attractive surfaces, placing special emphasis on the orientation of the resulting bilayer. Making use of the universality of lipid-associated phenomena, we employed a solvent-free coarse-grained model, enabling us to cover the relatively large system sizes and time scales required. Our results indicate that, depending on the strength and range of the interactions with the substrate as well as the surface's roughness, different mechanisms of vesicle spreading occur, resulting in a switch from a predominant inside-up to an outside-up orientation of the created supported bilayer.