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Publications

  1. Articles in scientific journals
  2. Books
  3. Theses

 

See also profiles on Publons, Orcid or Google Scholar.

 

 

1. Articles in scientific journals

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    Conformational Space of the Translocation Domain of Botulinum Toxin: Atomistic Modeling and Mesoscopic Description of the Coiled-Coil Helix Bundle

    Alexandre Delort, Grazia Cottone, Thérèse E. Malliavin, Martin Michael Müller

    Abstract     

    Int. J. Mol. Sci., 25: 2481, 2024.

     


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    Flexoelectric fluid membrane vesicles in spherical confinement

    Niloufar Abtahi, Lila Bouzar, Nadia Saidi-Amroun, Martin Michael Müller
    EPL, 131(1): 18001, 2020. See also arXiv:2006.04475.

     


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    Isometric bending requires local constraints on free edges

    Jemal Guven, Martin Michael Müller, Pablo Vázquez-Montejo
    Math. Mech. Solids, 24: 4051, 2019. See also arXiv:1904.05855.

     


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    Helical Superstructure of Intermediate Filaments

    Lila Bouzar, Martin Michael Müller, René Messina, Bernd Nöding, Sarah Köster, Hervé Mohrbach, Igor M. Kulić

    Intermediate filaments are the least explored among the large cytoskeletal elements. We show here that they display conformational anomalies in narrow microfluidic channels. Their unusual behavior can be understood as the consequence of a previously undetected, large scale helically curved superstructure. Confinement in a channel orders the otherwise soft, strongly fluctuating helical filaments and enhances their structural correlations, giving rise to experimentally detectable, strongly oscillating tangent correlation functions. We propose an explanation for the detected intrinsic curving phenomenon - an elastic shape instability that we call autocoiling. The mechanism involves self-induced filament buckling via a surface stress located at the outside of the cross-section. The results agree with ultrastructural findings and rationalize for the commonly observed looped intermediate filament shapes. Beyond curvature, explaining the molecular origin of the detected helical torsion remains an interesting challenge.

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    Phys. Rev. Lett., 122: 098101, 2019. See also arXiv:1803.04691.

     


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    Vesicle dynamics in confined steady and harmonically modulated Poiseuille flows

    Zakaria Boujja, Chaouqi Misbah, Hamid Ez-Zahraouy, Abdelilah Benyoussef, Thomas John, Christian Wagner, Martin Michael Müller

    Abstract     

    Phys. Rev. E, 98: 043111, 2018. See also arXiv:1810.04500.

     


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    Confining a fluid membrane vesicle of toroidal topology in an adhesive hard sphere

    Lila Bouzar, Ferhat Menas, Martin Michael Müller

    Abstract     Read more

    IOP Conf. Series: MSE, 186: 012021, 2017.

     


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    Squeezed helical elastica

    Lila Bouzar, Martin Michael Müller, Pierre Gosselin, Igor M. Kulić, Hervé Mohrbach

    Abstract     Read more

    Eur. Phys. J. E, 39: 114, 2016. See also arXiv:1606.03611.

     


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    How bio-filaments twist membranes

    Julien Fierling, Albert Johner, Igor M. Kulić, Hervé Mohrbach, Martin Michael Müller

    Abstract     

    Soft Matter, 12: 5747, 2016.

     


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    Toroidal membrane vesicles in spherical confinement

    Lila Bouzar, Ferhat Menas, Martin Michael Müller

    Abstract     Read more

    Phys. Rev. E, 92: 032721, 2015. See also arXiv:1509.00765.

     


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    Non-linear buckling and symmetry breaking of a soft elastic sheet sliding on a cylindrical substrate

    Norbert Stoop, Martin Michael Müller

    Abstract     Read more

    Int. J. Non-Linear Mech., 75: 115, 2015. See also arXiv:1503.05030.

     


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    Crunching Biofilament Rings

    Julien Fierling, Martin Michael Müller, Hervé Mohrbach, Albert Johner, Igor M. Kulić

    We discuss a curious example for the collective mechanical behavior of coupled non-linear monomer units entrapped in a circular filament. Within a simple model we elucidate how multistability of monomer units and exponentially large degeneracy of the filament's ground state emerge as a collective feature of the closed filament. Surprisingly, increasing the monomer frustration, i.e., the bending prestrain within the circular filament, leads to a conformational softening of the system. The phenomenon, that we term polymorphic crunching, is discussed and applied to a possible scenario for membrane tube deformation by switchable dynamin or FtsZ filaments. We find an important role of cooperative inter-unit interaction for efficient ring induced membrane fission.

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    Europhys. Lett., 107(6): 68002, 2014. See also arXiv:1408.6787.

     


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    Confotronic dynamics of tubular filaments

    Osman Kahraman, Hervé Mohrbach, Martin Michael Müller, Igor M. Kulić

    Abstract     Read more

    Soft Matter, 10(16): pp. 2836-2847, 2014. See also arXiv:1312.3106.

     


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    Whirling skirts and rotating cones

    Jemal Guven, J. A. Hanna, Martin Michael Müller

    Steady, dihedrally symmetric patterns with sharp peaks may be observed on a spinning skirt, lagging behind the material flow of the fabric. These qualitative features are captured with a minimal model of traveling waves on an inextensible, flexible, generalized-conical sheet rotating about a fixed axis. Conservation laws are used to reduce the dynamics to a quadrature describing a particle in a three-parameter family of potentials. One parameter is associated with the stress in the sheet, aNoether is the current associated with rotational invariance, and the third is a Rossby number which indicates the relative strength of Coriolis forces. Solutions are quantized by enforcing a topology appropriate to a skirt and a particular choice of dihedral symmetry. A perturbative analysis of nearly axisymmetric cones shows that Coriolis effects are essential in establishing skirt-like solutions. Fully non-linear solutions with three-fold symmetry are presented which bear a suggestive resemblance to the observed patterns.

     Reduce     

    New J. Phys., 15: 113055, 2013. See also arXiv:1306.2619.

     


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    Myotubularin and PtdIns3P remodel the sarcoplasmic reticulum in muscle in vivo

    Leonela Amoasii, Karim Hnia, Gaëtan Chicanne, Andreas Brech, Belinda Simone Cowling, Martin Michael Müller, Yannick Schwab, Pascale Koebel, Arnaud Ferry, Bernard Payrastre, Jocelyn Laporte

    Abstract     

    J. Cell Sci., 126(8): 1806, 2013.

     


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    Dipoles in thin sheets

    Jemal Guven, J. A. Hanna, Osman Kahraman, Martin Michael Müller

    Abstract     Read more

    Eur. Phys. J. E, 36: 106, 2013. See also arXiv:1212.3262.

     


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    Fluid membrane vesicles in confinement

    Osman Kahraman, Norbert Stoop, Martin Michael Müller

    We numerically study the morphology of fluid membrane vesicles with prescribed volume and surface area in confinement. For spherical confinement we observe axisymmetric invaginations that transform into ellipsoidal invaginations a the area of the vesicle is increased, followed by a transition into stomatocyte-like shapes. We provide a detailed analysis of the axisymmetric shapes and investigate the effect of the spontaneous curvature of the membrane as a possible mechanism for shape regulation. We show that the observed morphologies are stable under small geometric deformations of the confinement. The results could help to understand the role of mechanics in the complex folding patterns of biological membranes.

     Reduce     Read more

    New J. Phys., 14: 095021, 2012.

     


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    Petal shapes of sympetaleous flowers: the interplay between growth, geometry and elasticity

    Martine Ben Amar, Martin Michael Müller, Miguel Trejo

    Abstract     Read more

    New J. Phys., 14: 085014, 2012. Also featured in the Highlights of 2012.

     


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    Morphogenesis of membrane invaginations in spherical confinement

    Osman Kahraman, Norbert Stoop, Martin Michael Müller

    Abstract     Read more

    Europhys. Lett., 97(6): 68008, 2012. See also arXiv:1201.2518.

     


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    Conical instabilities on paper

    Jemal Guven, Martin Michael Müller, Pablo Vázquez-Montejo

    Abstract     Read more

    J. Phys. A: Math. Theor., 45(1): 015203, 2012. See also arXiv:1107.5008.

     


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    Interface-mediated interactions: Entropic forces of curved membranes

    Pierre Gosselin, Hervé Mohrbach, Martin Michael Müller

    Abstract     Read more

    Phys. Rev. E, 83(5): 051921, 2011. See also arXiv:1011.1221.

     


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    Self-Contact and Instabilities in the Anisotropic Growth of Elastic Membranes

    Norbert Stoop, Falk K. Wittel, Martine Ben Amar, Martin Michael Müller, Hans J. Herrmann

    Abstract     Read more

    Phys. Rev. Lett., 105(6): 068101, 2010. See also arXiv:1007.1871.

     


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    Cell Model Approach to Membrane Mediated Protein Interactions

    Martin Michael Müller, Markus Deserno

    Abstract     Read more

    Prog. Theor. Phys. Suppl., 184: pp. 351-363, 2010.

     


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    Hamiltonian formulation of surfaces with constant Gaussian curvature

    Miguel Trejo, Martine Ben Amar, Martin Michael Müller

    Abstract     Read more

    J. Phys. A: Math. Theor., 42(42): 425204, 2009.

     


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    Local Membrane Mechanics of Pore-Spanning Bilayers

    Ingo Mey, Milena Stephan, Eva K. Schmitt, Martin Michael Müller, Martine Ben Amar, Claudia Steinem, Andreas Janshoff

    The mechanical behavior of lipid bilayers spanning the pores of highly ordered porous silicon substrates was studied by local indentation experiments as a function of surface functionalization, lipid composition, solvent content, indentation velocity, and pore radius. Solvent-containing nanoblack lipid membranes (nano-BLMs) as well as solvent-free pore-spanning bilayers were imaged by fluorescence and atomic force microscopy prior to force curve acquisition, which allows distinguishing between membrane-covered and uncovered pores. Force indentation curves on pore-spanning bilayers attached to functionalized hydrophobic porous silicon substrates reveal a predominately linear response that is mainly attributed to prestress in the membranes. This is in agreement with the observation that indentation leads to membrane lysis well below 5% area dilatation. However, membrane bending and lateral tension dominates over prestress and stretching if solvent-free supported membranes obtained from spreading giant liposomes on hydrophilic porous silicon are indented.

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    J. Am. Chem. Soc., 131(20): pp. 7031-7039, 2009.

     


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    Elasticity Mapping of Pore-Suspending Native Cell Membranes

    Bärbel Lorenz, Ingo Mey, Siegfried Steltenkamp, Tamir Fine, Christina Rommel, Martin Michael Müller, Alexander Maiwald, Joachim Wegener, Claudia Steinem, Andreas Janshoff

    Abstract     Read more

    Small, 5(7): pp. 832-838, 2009.

     


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    Conical Defects in Growing Sheets

    Martin Michael Müller, Martine Ben Amar, Jemal Guven

    Abstract     Read more

    Phys. Rev. Lett., 101(15): 156104, 2008. See also arXiv:0807.1814.

     


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    How paper folds: bending with local constraints

    Jemal Guven, Martin Michael Müller

    Abstract     Read more

    J. Phys. A: Math. Theor., 41(5): 055203, 2008. See also arXiv:0712.0978.

     


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    Contact lines for fluid surface adhesion

    Markus Deserno, Martin Michael Müller, Jemal Guven

    When a fluid surface adheres to a substrate, the location of the contact line adjusts in order to minimize the overall energy. This adhesion balance implies boundary conditions which depend on the characteristic surface deformation energies. We develop a general geometrical framework within which these conditions can be systematically derived. We treat both adhesion to a rigid substrate as well as adhesion between two fluid surfaces, and illustrate our general results for several important Hamiltonians involving both curvature and curvature gradients. Some of these have previously been studied using very different techniques, others are to our knowledge new. What becomes clear in our approach is that, except for capillary phenomena, these boundary conditions are not the manifestation of a local force balance, even if the concept of surface stress is properly generalized. Hamiltonians containing higher order surface derivatives are not just sensitive to boundary translations but also notice changes in slope or even curvature. Both the necessity and the functional form of the corresponding additional contributions follow readily from our treatment.

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    Phys. Rev. E, 76(1): 011605, 2007. See also cond-mat/0703019.
    Also featured in the Virtual Journal of Biological Physics Research.

     


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    Balancing torques in membrane-mediated interactions: Exact results and numerical illustrations

    Martin Michael Müller, Markus Deserno, Jemal Guven

    Abstract     Read more

    Phys. Rev. E, 76(1): 011921, 2007. See also cond-mat/0702340.
    Also featured in the Virtual Journal of Biological Physics Research.

     


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    Aggregation and vesiculation of membrane proteins by curvature-mediated interactions

    Benedict J. Reynwar, Gregoria Illya, Vagelis A. Harmandaris, Martin Michael Müller, Kurt Kremer, Markus Deserno

    Abstract     Read more

    Nature 447(7143): pp. 461-464, 2007.

     


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    How to determine local elastic properties of lipid bilayer membranes from atomic-force-microscope measurements: A theoretical analysis

    Davood Norouzi, Martin Michael Müller, Markus Deserno

    Abstract     Read more

    Phys. Rev. E, 74(6): 061914, 2006. See also cond-mat/0602662.
    Also featured in the Virtual Journal of Biological Physics Research.

     


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    Mechanical Properties of Pore-Spanning Lipid Bilayers Probed by Atomic Force Microscopy

    Siegfried Steltenkamp, Martin Michael Müller, Markus Deserno, Christian Hennesthal, Claudia Steinem, Andreas Janshoff

    Abstract     Read more

    Biophys. J., 91(1): pp. 217-226, 2006.

     


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    Interface mediated interactions between particles -- a geometrical approach

    Martin Michael Müller, Markus Deserno, Jemal Guven

    Particles bound to an interface interact because they deform its shape. The stresses that result are fully encoded in the geometry and described by a divergence-free surface stress tensor. This stress tensor can be used to express the force on a particle as a line integral along any conveniently chosen closed contour that surrounds the particle. The resulting expression is exact (i.e., free of any 'smallness' assumptions) and independent of the chosen surface parametrization. Additional surface degrees of freedom, such as vector fields describing lipid tilt, are readily included in this formalism. As an illustration, we derive the exact force for several important surface Hamiltonians in various symmetric two-particle configurations in terms of the midplane geometry; its sign is evident in certain interesting limits. Specializing to the linear regime, where the shape can be analytically determined, these general expressions yield force-distance relations, several of which have originally been derived by using an energy based approach.

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    Phys. Rev. E, 72(6): 061407, 2005. See also cond-mat/0506019.
    Also featured in the Virtual Journal of Biological Physics Research.

     


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    Geometry of surface-mediated interactions

    Martin Michael Müller, Markus Deserno, Jemal Guven

    Abstract     Read more

    Europhys. Lett., 69(3): pp. 482-488, 2005. See also cond-mat/0409043.

     


 

 

2. Books

 

  • New Trends in the Physics and Mechanics of Biological Systems
    Lecture Notes of the Les Houches Summer School, vol. 92 (Oxford University Press, 2011),
    edited by Martine Ben Amar, Alain Goriely, Martin Michael Müller and Leticia Cugliandolo.

    Chapter 9:
    The physics of the cell membrane
    Martin Michael Müller and Martine Ben Amar.

 

 


 

 

3. Theses

  • Theoretical examinations of interface mediated interactions between colloidal particles, diploma thesis (2004).


  • Theoretical studies of fluid membrane mechanics, dissertation (2007).


  • Symmetry breaking in bioelasticity, habilitation thesis (2015).

 

 

 
     

 

     © Martin Michael Müller