The work described here employs state-of-the-art microscopy measurements (optical and scanning probe) to examine domain formation in lipid bilayers. A particular focus of interest is in the response of lipid structure to deformation. Three specific targets of the work include: (1) catastrophic degradation of vesicles upon depolymerization of microtubule support (a process which has analogies in studies of Alzheimer's disease in primates); (2) lipid and fluid volume mixing in vesicle fusion followed by three-dimensional imaging methods; and (3) the effects of protein-protein distance constraints in surface-supported lipid bilayers on domain formation and cytoskeletal growth patterns. ? ?
