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Coiling of Cylindrical Membrane Stacks with Anchored Polymers

Vidar Frette·Ilan Tsafrir·Marie-Alice Guedeau-Boudeville·Ludovic Jullien·Daniel Kandel·Joel Stavans
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Abstract

We study experimentally a coiling instability of cylindrical multilamellar stacks of phospholipid membranes, induced by polymers with hydrophobic anchors grafted along their hydrophilic backbone. We interpret our experimental results in terms of a model, in which local membrane curvature and polymer concentration are coupled. The model predicts the occurence of maximally tight coils above a threshold anchor occupancy. Indeed, only maximally tight coils are observed experimentally. Our system is unique in that coils form in the absence of twist.

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Vidar Frette, Ilan Tsafrir, Marie-Alice Guedeau-Boudeville, Ludovic Jullien, Daniel Kandel, Joel Stavans. 1999-08-01. Coiling of Cylindrical Membrane Stacks with Anchored Polymers. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.83.2465

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