Molecular and global structure and dynamics of membranes and lipid bilayers

The cell plasma is a composite type of material that is made up of a two-dimensional liquid crystal (lipid–protein bilayer) to which a macromolecular network (the cytoskeleton) is loosely coupled. The latter may be approximately two dimensional as in the case of the erythrocytes or may extend throughout the whole cell cytoplasm. Owing to this combination of two states of matter, the membrane combines the dynamics and flexibility of a fluid with the mechanical stability of a solid. Owing to its low dimensionality, the local structure of the bilayer or the global shape of cells may be most effectively controlled and modulated by biochemical signals such as macromolecular adsorption. The present contribution deals with comparative studies of the local and global dynamic properties of biological and artificial membranes. In the first part the question of the physical basis of selective lipid–protein interaction mechanisms is addressed and the outstanding viscoelastic properties of plasma membranes and their role for local instabilities shape fluctuations of cells and the cell–substrate interaction are described. The second part deals with the molecular architecture and dynamics of composite membranes prepared by combining monomeric and macromolecular lipids. These model membranes open new possibilities to mimick complex mechanical processes of cell plasma membranes and to prepare low-dimensionality macromolecular solutions and gels. Finally, the use of such compound systems by nature to prepare the semipermeable protective layers of plant leaves, the so-called cuticle, is discussed. In analogy to plasma membranes, the local transport properties are modulated by variation of the liquid-crystalline state of the monomeric waxes.