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Spontaneous and Intrinsic Curvature of Lipid Membranes: Back to the Origins

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Physics of Biological Membranes

Abstract

We review the background behind the notions of spontaneous and intrinsic curvatures of lipid membranes with a goal to make clear a fundamental physical difference between them. We recall the underlying mechanical and thermodynamic models for intrinsically curved lipid monolayers, whose geometry is described by the intrinsic curvature, and for flat monolayers whose elastic stresses are captured by the spontaneous curvature. We describe the existing ideas concerning the spontaneous and intrinsic curvatures of mixed lipid membranes. We mention the conditions upon which the values of the spontaneous and intrinsic curvatures are expected to be similar and the specific systems for which each of the notions is relevant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Michael M. Kozlov

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  1. Michael M. Kozlov
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Correspondence to Michael M. Kozlov .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. PhysicoChimie Curie (UMR CNRS 168), Institut Curie, Paris, France

    Patricia Bassereau

  2. PhysicoChimie Curie (UMR CNRS 168), Institut Curie, Paris, France

    Pierre Sens

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Kozlov, M.M. (2018). Spontaneous and Intrinsic Curvature of Lipid Membranes: Back to the Origins. In: Bassereau, P., Sens, P. (eds) Physics of Biological Membranes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00630-3_12

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