Dynamic simulations of multicomponent lipid membranes over long length and time scales

TL;DR

This paper introduces a stochastic phase-field model for multicomponent lipid bilayers that captures long-range dynamics and hydrodynamics, aligning well with experimental observations of phase separation.

Contribution

The model explicitly incorporates quasi-two-dimensional hydrodynamics, enabling simulations over large scales and durations, providing new insights into lipid membrane dynamics.

Findings

Simulations agree with fluorescence microscopy data.

Hydrodynamics significantly influence phase separation kinetics.

Model enables long-time, large-scale membrane behavior analysis.

Abstract

We present a stochastic phase-field model for multicomponent lipid bilayers that explicitly accounts for the quasi-two-dimensional hydrodynamic environment unique to a thin fluid membrane immersed in aqueous solution. Dynamics over a wide range of length scales (from nanometers to microns) for durations up to seconds and longer are readily accessed and provide a direct comparison to fluorescence microscopy measurements in ternary lipid/cholesterol mixtures. Simulations of phase separation kinetics agree with experiment and elucidate the importance of hydrodynamics in the coarsening process.