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The effect of tethered polymers on the conformation of a lipid membrane
Author(s) -
Birshtein Tatiana M.,
Zhulina Ekaterina B.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
macromolecular theory and simulations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1521-3919
pISSN - 1022-1344
DOI - 10.1002/mats.1997.040060608
Subject(s) - macromolecule , lipid bilayer , bent molecular geometry , polymer , membrane , redistribution (election) , bilayer , chemical physics , scaling , chemistry , biophysics , materials science , organic chemistry , geometry , biochemistry , mathematics , politics , political science , law , biology
We consider the effect of tethered macromolecules on the stability of the flat conformation of a lipid bilayer in a dense brush regime when anchored chains are significantly overlapped. On the basis of a scaling approach we have shown that redistribution of polymer chains from inner to outer layers reduces the free energy of the system and stabilizes spherically bent configurations of the membrane.