Critical dynamics in multicomponent lipid membranes

The formation and dynamics of spatially extended compositional domains in multicomponent lipid membranes both in vivo and in vitro lie at the heart of many important biological and biophysical phenomena. While the thermodynamic basis for domain formation has been explored extensively in the past, the roles of membrane and exterior fluid hydrodynamics on domain formation kinetics have received less attention. A case in point is the impact of hydrodynamics on the dynamics of compositional heterogeneities in lipid membranes in the vicinity of a critical point. In this Rapid Communication it is argued that the asymptotic dynamic behavior of a lipid membrane system in the vicinity of a critical point is strongly influenced by hydrodynamic interactions. More specifically, a mode-coupling argument is developed which predicts a scaling behavior of lipid transport coefficients near the critical point for both symmetric and asymmetric bilayers immersed in a bulk fluid.