Biological Membranes

Biological membranes define and determine the architecture, i.e., shape, of cells and organelles. While most membranes present a planar morphology on the nanometer length scale, their shape could change in a wide range of length and time scales, leading to more intricate shapes that could be (transient) short- or long-lived. The change in membrane shape from the energetically more stable planar one is accomplished by bending it away (curving) from this morphology, a process that is determined by the lipid bilayer structural properties and/or the application of forces by proteins. For a long time, the membrane shape was believed to play a passive role. However, recently this view has started changing by examples of biological processes controlled by the membrane shape and/or its curved structures,