MEMBRANE-INDUCED INTERACTIONS BETWEEN INCLUSIONS

The properties of membranes containing inclusions, such as proteins or colloidal particles, are calculated as a function of the bilayer interfacial energy and bending coefficients. We find that the inclusion-imposed perturbation leads to damped oscillations in the membrane profile and, hence, to nonmonotonic short-ranged, membrane-induced interactions between inclusions. The preferred spacing between inclusions is predicted to depend on the spontaneous curvature of the amphiphile and the magnitude of the perturbation at the inclusion boundary.