General neck condition for the limit shape of budding vesicles

TL;DR

This paper proves that the general neck condition for the limit shape of budding vesicles applies to both symmetric and asymmetric vesicles, based on derived shape equations and linking conditions.

Contribution

It refines and proves the general neck condition conjecture for asymmetric vesicles using shape equations and linking conditions.

Findings

The mean curvature at the membrane segments near the neck satisfies the general neck condition.

The conjecture holds for both axisymmetric and asymmetric budding vesicles.

The condition applies when the membrane segment length scale is between the neck size and vesicle size.

Abstract

The shape equation and linking conditions for a vesicle with two-phase domains are derived. We refine the conjecture on the general neck condition for the limit shape of a budding vesicle proposed by J\"{u}licher and Lipowsky [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{70}, 2964 (1993); Phys. Rev. E \textbf{53}, 2670 (1996)], and then we use the shape equation and linking conditions to prove that this conjecture holds not only for axisymmetric budding vesicles, but also for asymmetric ones. Our study reveals that the mean curvature at any point on the membrane segments adjacent to the neck satisfies the general neck condition for the limit shape of a budding vesicle when the length scale of the membrane segments is much larger than the characteristic size of the neck but still much smaller than the characteristic size of the vesicle.