Lipid bilayer structure in coexisting regions of low and high curvature

Withholding high membrane curvature is a very important feature in biological membranes. Continuous and dynamic changes in membrane composition take place that give rise to regions of very high curvature in processes such as endocytosis and cell division. In endocytosis, the necks that are produce have radii down to 20 nm. Such high curvature can be sustained thanks to an interplay between lipid-protein, where lipids of intrinsic high curvature and specific proteins are recruited by such regions of high curvature. Fluorescence microscopy has been the technique of choice to study curvature induced phase separation and molecular binding. There is little to none structural information on bio-membranes in high curved regions with such low curvature. Here, we will study coexisting flat and curved membranes composed of lipid mixtures with high and low intrinsic curvature by Neutron reflection.