title: The stretching elasticity of biomembranes determines their line tension and bending rigidity.
abstract: In this work, some implications of a recent model for the mechanical behavior of biological membranes (Deseri et al. in Continuum Mech Thermodyn 20(5):255-273, 2008) are exploited by means of a prototypical one-dimensional problem. We show that the knowledge of the membrane stretching elasticity permits to establish a precise connection among surface tension, bending rigidities and line tension during phase transition phenomena. For a specific choice of the stretching energy density, we evaluate these quantities in a membrane with coexistent fluid phases, showing a satisfactory comparison with the available experimental measurements. Finally, we determine the thickness profile inside the boundary layer where the order-disorder transition is observed.
authors: Center for Nonlinear Analysis and Department of Mathematical Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213-3890, USA, deseri@andrew.cmu.edu.
authors: Luca
authors: L
authors: Deseri
authors: Giuseppe
authors: G
authors: Zurlo
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D055119:Elastic Modulus / Q000502:physiology; D004548:Elasticity; D008566:Membranes / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013816:Thermodynamics