Elastic, electrostatic and electrokinetic forces influencing membrane curvature

Electrostatic and electrokinetic contributions to the elastic moduli of a driven membrane.

We discuss the electrostatic contribution to the elastic moduli of a cell or artificial membrane placed in an electrolyte and driven by a DC electric field. The field drives ion currents across the membrane, through specific channels, pumps or natural pores. In steady state, charges accumulate in the Debye layers close to the membrane, modifying the membrane elastic moduli. We first study a mod...

An electrostatic-elastic membrane system with an external pressure

An elastic membrane subject to an external pressure and electrostatic force is considered. The resulting elliptic problem is analyzed for the strip and disk geometry. The structure of the solution set is explored with the aid of phase plane techniques, perturbation methods, and bifurcation analysis. In each case, the stability of the solution is determined using linear stability theory with the...

Effects of electrostatic correlations on electrokinetic phenomena.

The classical theory of electrokinetic phenomena is based on the mean-field approximation that the electric field acting on an individual ion is self-consistently determined by the local mean charge density. This paper considers situations, such as concentrated electrolytes, multivalent electrolytes, or solvent-free ionic liquids, where the mean-field approximation breaks down. A fourth-order m...

Modulation of CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase by membrane curvature elastic stress.

The activity of CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase, a rate-limiting enzyme in phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis, is modulated by its interaction with lipid bilayers [Kent, C. (1997) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1348, 79-90]. Its regulation is of central importance in the maintenance of membrane lipid homeostasis. Here we show evidence that the stored curvature elastic stress in the lipid membrane...

Minimally invasive intracellular delivery based on electrokinetic forces combined with vibration-assisted cell membrane perforation