THERMAL SHAPE FLUCTUATIONS OF FLUID-PHASE PHOSPHOLIPID-BILAYER MEMBRANES AND VESICLES

After an introductory review of the physics of lipid-bilayer self-asse mbly, we discuss the origins of the area-difference elasticity model, a Landau-like theory which describes the mesoscale shape mechanics of bilayer sheets and vesicles. We introduce the notion of a phase diagra m for mechanically stable low-energy vesicle shapes. We summarize what is now known about these shapes and about the transitions between the m induced by changing control parameters, especially emphasizing the i mportance of metastability. In a final section devoted to recent work on thermal fluctuations, we outline a program for calculating normal m ode energies and eigenshapes. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.