Membrane simulation models from nm to $\mu$m scale

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in membrane simulation models, highlighting coarse-grained and continuum approaches for large-scale biological membranes, and discusses applications like vesicle dynamics and fusion.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive overview of multiscale membrane models, from molecular to continuum, emphasizing computational efficiency and practical applications.

Findings

Implicit solvent models enable large-scale membrane simulations.

Continuum models effectively describe membrane dynamics at micrometer scales.

Applications include vesicle flow, formation, and fusion processes.

Abstract

Recent developments in lipid membrane models for simulations are reviewed. To reduce computational costs, various coarse-grained molecular models have been proposed. Among them, implicit solvent (solvent-free) molecular models are relatively more coarse-grained and efficient for simulating large bilayer membranes. On a $\mu$m scale, the molecular details are typically negligible and the membrane can be described as a continuous curved surface. The theoretical models for fluid and elastic membranes with mesh or meshless discretizations are presented. As examples of applications, the dynamics of vesicles in flows, vesicle formation, and membrane fusion are presented.