Bilayer Elasticity in Protein and Lipid Organization

Lipids molecules exhibit a number of strange properties, integral to a cell's ability to separate self from non-self in a chemically diverse environment. At the mesoscopic scale, membranes exhibit mechanical effects that serve to organize lipids and proteins. In a number of case studies, the physics of elastic bilayers suggests how lipids and proteins organize in a membrane when bilayer deformation is present. This text systematically describes how one dissects the deformations of a bilayer that are induced either by the presence of membrane proteins, multiple lipid phases, or membrane vesicle adhesion. A mix of new experimental research, as well as support from the existing literature is used to discuss the relevance of such elastic theories in both model membrane systems and their biological counterparts. These elastic theories are used to examine membrane-mediated protein-protein interactions, morphological transitions and organization of lipid domains, membrane adhesion, membrane crowding, and mechanosensation and osmoregulation in bacteria and model systems. The text and appendices fully outline all relevant theory and experimental methods.