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. 1982 Jun;79(12):3918–3921. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.12.3918

Theory of periodic structures in lipid bilayer membranes

Meira S Falkovitz 1,†, Michael Seul 1, Harry L Frisch 1,‡, Harden M McConnell 1,§
PMCID: PMC346542  PMID: 16593202

Abstract

An approximate, new model for the structure of the periodic, undulated Pβ′, phase of phosphatidylcholine bilayers is proposed. The properties of this phase are deduced by minimizing a Landau-de Gennes expression for the bilayer free energy when this free energy contains a term favoring a spontaneous curvature of the membrane. The theoretical calculation leads to a model for the Pβ′ phase of phosphatidylcholine bilayers having a number of novel physical properties, including periodic variations in membrane “fluidity.”

Keywords: Landau-de Gennes theory, spontaneous curvature, Pβ′-phase, phase transitions

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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