Compositional interface dynamics within symmetric and asymmetric planar lipid bilayer membranes

Abstract

Compositional domains within multicomponent lipid bilayer membranes are believed to facilitate many important cellular processes. In this work, we first derive the general equations that describe the dynamics of compositional domains within planar membranes with asymmetry in leaflet properties and in the presence of a thermodynamic coupling between the leaflets. These equations are then employed to develop analytical solutions for the dynamics of the recurrence of registration for circular domains in the case of weak coupling. In addition, a closed-form expression for the decay rate of interface fluctuations, when only one leaflet supports compositional domains, is derived.