title: Ellipsoidal Relaxation of Deformed Vesicles.
abstract: Theoretical analysis and experimental quantification on the ellipsoidal relaxation of vesicles are presented. The current work reveals the simplicity and universal aspects of this process. The Helfrich formula is shown to apply to the dynamic relaxation of moderate-to-high tension membranes, and a closed-form solution is derived which predicts the vesicle aspect ratio as a function of time. Scattered data are unified by a time scale, which leads to a similarity behavior, governed by a distinctive solution for each vesicle type. Two separate regimes in the relaxation are identified, namely, the "entropic" and the "constant-tension" regimes. The bending rigidity and the initial membrane tension can be simultaneously extracted from the data analysis, posing the current approach as an effective means for the mechanical analysis of biomembranes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 98 Brett Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA.
authors.forename: Miao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Theory and Bio-Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Science Park Golm, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.|Departamento de Biofísica, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, BR-04044020 São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rafael B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Lira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biofísica, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, BR-04044020 São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Riske
authors.affiliation: Department of Theory and Bio-Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Science Park Golm, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Rumiana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dimova
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 98 Brett Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin