Viscosity Landscape of Phase-Separated Lipid Membrane Estimated from Fluid Velocity Field (Biophysical Journal)

In cell membranes, the functional constituents such as peptides, proteins, and polysaccharides diffuse in a sea of lipids as single molecules and molecular aggregates. Thus, the fluidity of the heterogeneous multicomponent membrane is important for understanding the roles of the membrane in cell functionality. Recently, Henle and Levine described the hydrodynamics of molecular diffusion in a spherical membrane. A tangential point force at the north pole induces a pair of vortices whose centers lie on a line perpendicular to the point force and are symmetrical with respect to the point force.