Curvature-electric effects in artificial and natural membranes studied using patch-clamp techniques

Петров, А. Г.; Ramsey, R. L.; Usherwood, P.N.R.

doi:10.1007/bf00257141

Cited by 31 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…However, in the presence of curvature, this symmetry argument does not apply, and one expects an electrical field generated by curved membranes. Petrov named this phenomenon "flexoelectricity" and demonstrated the effect in experiments similar to those by Ochs and Burton (15) but interpreted differently as curvature-induced polarization (43,44). In several further papers the authors applied the concept of flexoelectricity to biomembranes and proposed a coupling of flexoelectricity to ionic currents through channel proteins (45,46).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

The Capacitance and Electromechanical Coupling of Lipid Membranes Close to Transitions: The Effect of Electrostriction

Heimburg

2012

Biophysical Journal

105

109

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Biomembranes are thin capacitors with the unique feature of displaying phase transitions in a physiologically relevant regime. We investigate the voltage and lateral pressure dependence of their capacitance close to their chain melting transition. Because the gel and the fluid membrane have different area and thickness, the capacitance of the two membrane phases is different. In the presence of external fields, charges exert forces that can influence the state of the membrane, thereby influencing the transition temperature. This phenomenon is called "electrostriction". We show that this effect allows us to introduce a capacitive susceptibility that assumes a maximum in the melting transition with an associated excess charge. As a consequence, voltage regimes exist in which a small change in voltage can lead to a large uptake of charge and a large capacitive current. Furthermore, we consider electromechanical behavior such as pressure-induced changes in capacitance, and the application of such concepts in biology.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

The Capacitance and Electromechanical Coupling of Lipid Membranes Close to Transitions: The Effect of Electrostriction

Heimburg

2012

Biophysical Journal

105

109

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“…The former is a lipid bilayer which can be considered a lipotropic phase LC 101. This similarity suggests that cellular membranes will also exhibit flexoelectric effects 12, 102–104. Indeed, research conducted on both artificial cell membranes as well as on natural cells has revealed both direct and converse flexoelectricity.…”

Section: Flexoelectricity In Soft Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanoscale Flexoelectricity

et al. 2013

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Electromechanical effects are ubiquitous in biological and materials systems. Understanding the fundamentals of these coupling phenomena is critical to devising next-generation electromechanical transducers. Piezoelectricity has been studied in detail, in both the bulk and at mesoscopic scales. Recently, an increasing amount of attention has been paid to flexoelectricity: electrical polarization induced by a strain gradient. While piezoelectricity requires crystalline structures with no inversion symmetry, flexoelectricity does not carry this requirement, since the effect is caused by inhomogeneous strains. Flexoelectricity explains many interesting electromechanical behaviors in hard crystalline materials and underpins core mechanoelectric transduction phenomena in soft biomaterials. Most excitingly, flexoelectricity is a size-dependent effect which becomes more significant in nanoscale systems. With increasing interest in nanoscale and nano-bio hybrid materials, flexoelectricity will continue to gain prominence. This Review summarizes work in this area. First, methods to amplify or manipulate the flexoelectric effect to enhance material properties will be investigated, particularly at nanometer scales. Next, the nature and history of these effects in soft biomaterials will be explored. Finally, some theoretical interpretations for the effect will be presented. Overall, flexoelectricity represents an exciting phenomenon which is expected to become more considerable as materials continue to shrink.

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“…With the exception of graphene, boron nitride and (to some degree) graphene nitride [12][13][14], a characterization of the flexoelectricity in other 2D materials is still missing. In particular, we note that to date, flexoelectricity has not been experimentally evaluated for any of the 2D inorganic materials-however, as described in the main text, considerably more progress has been made in the case of lipid bilayers [57][58][59][60][61].…”

Section: What Are Some Open Areas Of Research In Flexoelectricity?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexoelectricity: A Perspective on an Unusual Electromechanical Coupling

Krichen

Sharma

2016

Journal of Applied Mechanics

169

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The ability of certain materials to convert electrical stimuli into mechanical deformation, and vice versa, is a prized property. Not surprisingly, applications of such so-called piezoelectric materials are broad-ranging from energy harvesting to self-powered sensors. In this perspective, written in the form of question-answers, we highlight a relatively understudied electromechanical coupling called flexoelectricity that appears to have tantalizing implications in topics ranging from biophysics to the design of next-generation multifunctional nanomaterials.A uniform mechanical strain electrically polarizes a piezoelectric material. There is extensive literature on the formal development of the phenomenological theory of piezoelectricity; however, simply put, this phenomenon may be described by the following linearized relation between the components of the polarization vector (P) and the strain tensor (e): P i d ijk e jk . The piezoelectric property tensor (d) is third order. Group theory states that only noncentrosymmetric crystals may exhibit properties dictated by third-order tensors [1], and accordingly, common insulators which possess a centrosymmetric crystal structure, such as Si and NaCl, are nonpiezoelectric.However, as schematically alluded to in Fig. 1, a nonuniform strain may break the mirror symmetry even in otherwise centrosymmetric crystals. The relation of the polarization to the extent of the nonuniformity of the strain field, or strain gradient, is known as flexoelectricity: P i d ijk e jk þ f ijkl ð@e jk =@x l Þ, where f ijkl are the components of the so-called flexoelectric tensor. While the piezoelectric property is nonzero only for selected materials, the strain gradient-polarization coupling (i.e., flexoelectricity tensor) is in principle nonzero for all (insulating) materials. This implies that under a nonuniform strain, all dielectric materials are capable of producing a polarization. The reader is referred to the following articles for further information: Refs. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9].

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Curvature-electric effects in artificial and natural membranes studied using patch-clamp techniques

Cited by 31 publications

References 8 publications

The Capacitance and Electromechanical Coupling of Lipid Membranes Close to Transitions: The Effect of Electrostriction

The Capacitance and Electromechanical Coupling of Lipid Membranes Close to Transitions: The Effect of Electrostriction

Nanoscale Flexoelectricity

Flexoelectricity: A Perspective on an Unusual Electromechanical Coupling

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