Publications
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Articles in scientific journals
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Books
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Theses
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1. Articles in scientific journals
| 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.
| 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.
| 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.
| 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 |
We present a numerical study of the time-dependent motion of a membrane vesicle in a
channel under an imposed flow. In a Poiseuille flow the shape of the vesicle depends on the flow strength,
the mechanical properties of the membrane, and the width of the channel. In a wide parameter region, the
emerging snaking shape shows an oscillatory motion like a swimmer flagella even though the flow is
stationary. We quantify this behavior by the amplitude and frequency of the oscillations of the vesicle's
center of mass. The influence of an amplitude modulation of the imposed flow on the dynamics and shape of
the snaking vesicle is also investigated. We find that this modulation---when sufficiently small---induces
a modulation in amplitude and frequency of the center of mass of the snaking vesicle. For large
modulation amplitudes transitions to static shapes are observed.
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Phys. Rev. E, 98: 043111, 2018. See also arXiv:1810.04500.
| Confining a fluid membrane vesicle of toroidal topology in an adhesive hard sphere
Lila Bouzar, Ferhat Menas, Martin Michael Müller |
We discuss how the equilibrium shapes of a confined toroidal fluid membrane vesicle
change when an adhesion between membrane and confining sphere is taken into account. The case without adhesion
was studied in Ref. [1]. Different types of solution were found and assembled in a phase diagram as a function of area
and reduced volume of the membrane. Depending on the degree of confinement the vesicle is either free, in contact along
a circle (contact-circle solutions) or on a surface (contact-area solutions). All solutions without adhesion are up-down symmetric.
When the container is adhesive, the phase diagram is altered and new kinds of solution without up-down symmetry are found.
For increasing values of adhesion the region of contact-circle solutions shrinks until it vanishes completely from the phase diagram.
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IOP Conf. Series: MSE, 186: 012021, 2017.
| Squeezed helical elastica
Lila Bouzar, Martin Michael Müller, Pierre Gosselin, Igor M. Kulić, Hervé Mohrbach |
Abstract
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Eur. Phys. J. E, 39: 114, 2016. See also arXiv:1606.03611.
| How bio-filaments twist membranes
Julien Fierling, Albert Johner, Igor M. Kulić, Hervé Mohrbach, Martin Michael Müller |
Abstract
Soft Matter, 12: 5747, 2016.
| Toroidal membrane vesicles in spherical confinement
Lila Bouzar, Ferhat Menas, Martin Michael Müller |
Abstract
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Phys. Rev. E, 92: 032721, 2015. See also arXiv:1509.00765.
| Non-linear buckling and symmetry breaking of a soft elastic sheet sliding on a cylindrical substrate
Norbert Stoop, Martin Michael Müller |
Abstract
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Int. J. Non-Linear Mech., 75: 115, 2015. See also arXiv:1503.05030.
| Crunching Biofilament Rings
Julien Fierling, Martin Michael Müller, Hervé Mohrbach, Albert Johner, Igor M. Kulić |
Abstract
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Europhys. Lett., 107(6): 68002, 2014. See also arXiv:1408.6787.
| Confotronic dynamics of tubular filaments
Osman Kahraman, Hervé Mohrbach, Martin Michael Müller, Igor M. Kulić |
Abstract
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Soft Matter, 10(16): pp. 2836-2847, 2014. See also arXiv:1312.3106.
| 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.
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New J. Phys., 15: 113055, 2013. See also arXiv:1306.2619.
| 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.
| Dipoles in thin sheets
Jemal Guven, J. A. Hanna, Osman Kahraman, Martin Michael Müller |
Abstract
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Eur. Phys. J. E, 36: 106, 2013. See also arXiv:1212.3262.
| Fluid membrane vesicles in confinement
Osman Kahraman, Norbert Stoop, Martin Michael Müller |
Abstract
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New J. Phys., 14: 095021, 2012.
| Petal shapes of sympetaleous flowers: the interplay between growth, geometry and elasticity
Martine Ben Amar, Martin Michael Müller, Miguel Trejo |
The growth of a thin elastic sheet imposes constraints on its geometry such as its Gaussian curvature KG.
In this paper, we construct the shapes of sympetalous bell-shaped flowers with a constant Gaussian curvature. Minimizing the bending energies
of both the petal and the veins, we are able to predict quantitatively the global shape of these flowers. We discuss two toy problems
where the Gaussian curvature is either negative or positive. In the former case the axisymmetric pseudosphere turns out to mimic the correct
shape before edge curling; in the latter case, singularities of the mathematical surface coincide with strong veins. Using a variational
minimization of the elastic energy, we find that the optimal number for the veins is either four, five or six, a number which is deceptively
close to the statistics on real flowers in nature.
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New J. Phys., 14: 085014, 2012. Also featured in the Highlights of 2012.
| Morphogenesis of membrane invaginations in spherical confinement
Osman Kahraman, Norbert Stoop, Martin Michael Müller |
We study the morphology of a fluid membrane in spherical confinement. When the
area of the membrane is slightly larger than the area of the outer container, a single axisymmetric
invagination is observed. For higher area, self-contact occurs: the invagination breaks symmetry
and deforms into an ellipsoid-like shape connected to its outer part via a small slit. For even
higher areas, a second invagination forms inside the original invagination. The folding patterns observed
could constitute basic building blocks in the morphogenesis of biological tissues and organelles.
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Europhys. Lett., 97(6): 68008, 2012. See also arXiv:1201.2518.
| Conical instabilities on paper
Jemal Guven, Martin Michael Müller, Pablo Vázquez-Montejo |
Abstract
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J. Phys. A: Math. Theor., 45(1): 015203, 2012. See also arXiv:1107.5008.
| Interface-mediated interactions: Entropic forces of curved membranes
Pierre Gosselin, Hervé Mohrbach, Martin Michael Müller |
Abstract
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Phys. Rev. E, 83(5): 051921, 2011. See also arXiv:1011.1221.
| 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 |
We investigate the morphology of thin discs and rings growing in circumferential direction. Recent analytical results suggest that this growth produces symmetric excess cones (e-cones). We study the stability of such solutions considering self-contact and bending stress. We show that, contrary to what was assumed in previous analytical solutions, beyond a critical growth factor, no symmetric e-cone solution is energetically minimal any more. Instead, we obtain skewed e-cone solutions having lower energy, characterized by a skewness angle and repetitive spiral winding with increasing growth. These results are generalized to discs with varying thickness and rings with holes of different radii.
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Phys. Rev. Lett., 105(6): 068101, 2010. See also arXiv:1007.1871.
| Cell Model Approach to Membrane Mediated Protein Interactions
Martin Michael Müller, Markus Deserno |
Membrane-deforming proteins can interact through the curvature
fields they create. In the case of many such proteins a cell model
approach can be used to calculate the energy per protein and
predict, whether it would lead to phase segregation or
bud-formation. Using covariant differential geometry exact results
are derived for the lateral pressure in terms of geometric
properties at the cell boundary. Numerical solutions of the exact
shape equations in the highly nonlinear regime are found and it is
seen that both phase segregation and bud formation can occur.
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Prog. Theor. Phys. Suppl., 184: pp. 351-363, 2010.
| Hamiltonian formulation of surfaces with constant Gaussian curvature
Miguel Trejo, Martine Ben Amar, Martin Michael Müller |
Abstract
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J. Phys. A: Math. Theor., 42(42): 425204, 2009.
| 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.
| 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
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Small, 5(7): pp. 832-838, 2009.
| Conical Defects in Growing Sheets
Martin Michael Müller, Martine Ben Amar, Jemal Guven |
Abstract
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Phys. Rev. Lett., 101(15): 156104, 2008. See also arXiv:0807.1814.
| How paper folds: bending with local constraints
Jemal Guven, Martin Michael Müller |
Abstract
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J. Phys. A: Math. Theor., 41(5): 055203, 2008. See also arXiv:0712.0978.
| Contact lines for fluid surface adhesion
Markus Deserno, Martin Michael Müller, Jemal Guven |
Abstract
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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.
| Balancing torques in membrane-mediated interactions: Exact results and
numerical illustrations
Martin Michael Müller, Markus Deserno, Jemal Guven |
Torques on interfaces can be described by a divergence-free tensor
which is fully encoded in the geometry. This tensor consists of two
terms, one originating in the couple of the stress, the other capturing
an intrinsic contribution due to curvature. In analogy to the description
of forces in terms of a stress tensor, the torque on a particle can be
expressed as a line integral along any contour surrounding the particle.
Interactions between particles mediated by a fluid membrane are studied
within this framework. In particular, torque balance places a strong
constraint on the shape of the membrane. Symmetric two-particle
configurations admit simple analytical expressions which are valid
in the fully nonlinear regime; in particular, the problem may be
solved exactly in the case of two membrane-bound parallel cylinders.
This apparently simple system provides some flavor of the remarkably
subtle nonlinear behavior associated with membrane-mediated interactions.
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Phys. Rev. E, 76(1): 011921, 2007. See also cond-mat/0702340. Also featured in the Virtual Journal of Biological Physics Research.
| 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 |
Membrane remodelling plays an important role in cellular tasks such as endocytosis, vesiculation and protein sorting, and in the biogenesis of organelles such as the endoplasmic reticulum or the Golgi apparatus. It is well established that the remodelling process is aided by specialized proteins that can sense as well as create membrane curvature, and trigger tubulation when added to synthetic liposomes. Because the energy needed for such large-scale changes in membrane geometry significantly exceeds the binding energy between individual proteins and between protein and membrane, cooperative action is essential. It has recently been suggested that curvature-mediated attractive interactions could aid cooperation and complement the effects of specific binding events on membrane remodelling. But it is difficult to experimentally isolate curvature-mediated interactions from direct attractions between proteins. Moreover, approximate theories predict repulsion between isotropically curving proteins. Here we use coarse-grained membrane simulations to show that curvature-inducing model proteins adsorbed on lipid bilayer membranes can experience attractive interactions that arise purely as a result of membrane curvature. We find that once a minimal local bending is realized, the effect robustly drives protein cluster formation and subsequent transformation into vesicles with radii that correlate with the local curvature imprint. Owing to its universal nature, curvature-mediated attraction can operate even between proteins lacking any specific interactions, such as newly synthesized and still immature membrane proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum.
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Nature 447(7143): pp. 461-464, 2007.
| 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 |
Measurements with an atomic force microscope (AFM) offer a direct way to
probe elastic properties of lipid bilayer membranes locally: provided
the underlying stress-strain relation is known, material parameters such as
surface tension or bending rigidity may be deduced.
In a recent experiment a pore-spanning membrane was poked with an AFM tip,
yielding a linear behavior of the force-indentation curves. A theoretical
model for this case is presented here which describes these curves in the
framework of Helfrich theory. The linear behavior of the measurements is
reproduced if one neglects the influence of adhesion between tip and membrane.
Including it via an adhesion balance changes the situation significantly:
force-distance curves cease to be linear, hysteresis and nonzero detachment
forces can show up. The characteristics of this rich scenario are discussed
in detail in this article.
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Phys. Rev. E, 74(6): 061914, 2006. See also cond-mat/0602662. Also featured in the Virtual Journal of Biological Physics Research.
| 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 |
We measure the elastic response of a free-standing lipid membrane to a local indentation by using an atomic force microscope. Starting point is a planar
gold-coated alumina substrate with a chemisorbed 3-mercaptopropionic acid
monolayer displaying circular pores of very well defined and tunable size, over
which bilayers composed of N,N,- dimethyl- N,N,- dioctadecylammonium bromide or
1,2 - dioleoyl - 3 - trimethylammonium - propane chloride were spread.
Centrally indenting these 'nanodrums' with an atomic force microscope tip yields
force-indentation curves, which we quantitatively analyze by solving the
corresponding shape equations of continuum curvature elasticity. Since the
measured response depends in a known way on the system geometry (pore size, tip
radius) and on material parameters (bending modulus, lateral tension), this opens
the possibility to monitor local elastic properties of lipid membranes in a
well-controlled setting.
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Biophys. J., 91(1): pp. 217-226, 2006.
| 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.
| Geometry of surface-mediated interactions
Martin Michael Müller, Markus Deserno, Jemal Guven |
Abstract
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Europhys. Lett., 69(3): pp. 482-488, 2005. See also cond-mat/0409043.
2. Books
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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
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Theoretical examinations of interface mediated interactions between colloidal particles,
diploma thesis (2004).
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Theoretical studies of fluid membrane mechanics, dissertation (2007).
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Symmetry breaking in bioelasticity, habilitation thesis (2015).
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