Abstract
Three geometric relations for vesicle equilibrium within the Helfrich elasticity model have been derived. The relations can serve to determine the spontaneous curvature c0 and cell internal pressure −Δp=pin−pext from the vesicle shape. In analogy with the theory of the flexoelectric effect of nematic liquid crystals we have also obtained a relation between c0 and the membrane potential. By applying these predictions to the human red blood cell (RBC) shape measured by Evans and Fung we found good agreement of the calculated potential with measured values previously given by other biologists by direct impaling RBC with a microelectrode. The calculated value of the internal pressure is discussed by comparison with previous works.
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