Title: Tracing Membrane Mechanics, Electrostatics and Dynamics by Vesicle Fluctuations
Abstract: Analysis (VFA) of Giant Unilamellar Vesicles (GUVs) is a biophysical techniques
well suited to reveal information about the membrane mechanical and dynamic properties.
VFA provides the spatio-temporal correlation function of membrane ondulations
which can be used to validate phenomenological
models involving degrees of freedoms coupling to membrane curvature and
estimate the values of model parameters.
We use VFA to demonstrate the important role of flexo-elasticity in
membrane bending elasticity. ĘThis is in particular displayed in the effect
of salts on the bending elastic modulus. Furthermore, we show that
the active ATP driven processes of membrane proteins can be coupled
to membrane curvature with observable effects on membrane fluctuations
at macroscopic length scales. These phenomena are demonstrated for
GUVs with reconstituted Na-K-ATPase