Heterogeneities in the cell membrane due to coexisting lipid phases have been conjectured to play a major functional role in cell signaling and membrane trafficking. Thereby the material properties... Show moreHeterogeneities in the cell membrane due to coexisting lipid phases have been conjectured to play a major functional role in cell signaling and membrane trafficking. Thereby the material properties of multiphase systems, such as the line tension and the bending moduli, are crucially involved in the kinetics and the asymptotic behavior of phase separation. In this Letter we present a combined analytical and experimental approach to determine the properties of phase-separated vesicle systems. First we develop an analytical model for the vesicle shape of weakly budded biphasic vesicles. Subsequently experimental data on vesicle shape and membrane fluctuations are taken and compared to the model. The parameters obtained set limits for the size and stability of nanodomains in the plasma membrane of living cells. Show less
Bertola, V.; Meulenbroek, B.; Wagner, C.; Storm, C.; Morozov, A.; Saarloos, W. van; Bonn, D. 2003
The production rate of polymer fibers by extrusion is usually limited by the appearance of a series of instabilities ("melt fracture") that lead to unwanted undulations of the surface. We present... Show moreThe production rate of polymer fibers by extrusion is usually limited by the appearance of a series of instabilities ("melt fracture") that lead to unwanted undulations of the surface. We present both qualitative and quantitative experimental evidence that-in addition to previously known polymer-specific scenarios-there is an intrinsic route towards melt fracture type phenomena: a nonlinear ("subcritical") instability of viscoelastic Poiseuille flow. Show less
Saarloos, W. van; Bertola, V.; Meulenbroek, B.; Wagner, C.; Storm, C.; Morozov, A.N.; Bonn, D. 2003
