title: Helfrich repulsion and dynamical phase separation of multicomponent lipid bilayers.
abstract: Thermal fluctuations of surfactant bilayers in an aqueous solution produce an effective, long-range repulsion that can lead to a continuous unbinding transition. We report on an optical interferometry study of the thermal fluctuations of multicomponent bilayers close to the unbinding transition. We find that, in contrast to the case of single-component bilayers, the thermal fluctuation spectrum of multicomponent bilayers does not agree with a continuous unbinding transition but instead indicates the proximity of an unbinding tricritical point.
authors.affiliation: Lehrstuhl für Biophysik, E22, Physik Department, Technische Universität München, James Franck-Strasse 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marx
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schilling
authors.forename: Erich
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sackmann
authors.forename: Robijn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bruinsma
mesh_terms: D002784:Cholesterol / Q000737:chemistry*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D010714:Phosphatidylethanolamines / Q000737:chemistry*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry*; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010714:Phosphatidylethanolamines; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; C020888:1,2-dielaidoylphosphatidylethanolamine; D002784:Cholesterol