Equilibrium microphase separation in the two-leaflet model of lipid membranes

Abstract: A novel two-leaflet description of lipid membranes is proposed. Within its framework, phase separation phenomena in multicomponent biological membranes are analyzed. As we show, interactions between the leaflets tend to suppress macroscopic phase segregation (i.e., complete demixing of lipids) in such systems. Instead, microphase separation characterized by formation of equilibrium nanoscale domains can take place. The phase diagram is constructed and numerical simulations revealing nanostructures of different morphology are performed.