An application of the optical microscopy to the determination of the curvature elastic modulus of biological and model membranes

I. Bivas , P. Hanusse , P. Bothorel , J. Lalanne , O. Aguerre-Chariol

A new method is proposed to measure the curvature elastic modulus k c of a membrane, by observing the thermal induced fluctuations of the shape of a spherical vesicle. Observations of the liposomes were carried out under a microscospe working in the regime of Nomarski differential interference contrast. We show that the value of kc thus measured is the curvature elastic modulus of free flip-flop.

Mots clés: elastic moduli; membranes

Domaines: Articles anciens

I. Bivas, P. Hanusse, P. Bothorel, J. Lalanne, O. Aguerre-Chariol. An application of the optical microscopy to the determination of the curvature elastic modulus of biological and model membranes. Journal de Physique, 1987, 48 (5), pp.855-867. ⟨10.1051/jphys:01987004805085500⟩. ⟨jpa-00210505⟩