Model answers to lipid membrane questions.

Abstract

Ever since it was discovered that biological membranes have a core of a bimolecular sheet of lipid molecules, lipid bilayers have been a model laboratory for investigating physicochemical and functional properties of biological membranes. Experimental and theoretical models help the experimental scientist to plan experiments and interpret data. Theoretical models are the theoretical scientist's preferred toys to make contact between membrane theory and experiments. Most importantly, models serve to shape our intuition about which membrane questions are the more fundamental and relevant ones to pursue. Here we review some membrane models for lipid self-assembly, monolayers, bilayers, liposomes, and lipid-protein interactions and illustrate how such models can help answering questions in modern lipid cell biology.