Lipid Domain Formation and Dynamics in Multicomponent Membranes: Experimental Validation of a Phase-Field Model

Abstract

Phase-separation in biological membranes is often used to control the spatial organization of lipids to orchestrate variety of membrane-based cellular processes. Phase separation can be further utilized for the design and development of liposomes with heterogeneous and spatially organized membranes. While such “patchy” liposomes are attractive platforms for drug delivery applications, their design and optimization through experimentation can be costly and time-consuming. In this study, we developed a computationally efficient method based on the surface Cahn-Hilliard phase-field model to complement experimental investigations in the design of patchy liposomes.