01810nas a2200121   4500008004300000245007000043210006600113520141500179100001901594700002201613700001701635856003601652       2010                        en_Ud  00aThe role of membrane viscosity in the dynamics of fluid membranes0 arole of membrane viscosity in the dynamics of fluid membranes3 aFluid membranes made out of lipid bilayers are the fundamental separation structure in eukaryotic cells. Many physiological processes rely on dramatic shape and topological changes (e.g. fusion, fission) of fluid membrane systems. Fluidity is key to the versatility and constant reorganization of lipid bilayers. Here, we study the role of the membrane intrinsic viscosity, arising from the friction of the lipid molecules as they rearrange to accommodate shape changes, in the dynamics of morphological changes of fluid vesicles. In particular, we analyze the competition between the membrane viscosity and the viscosity of the bulk fluid surrounding the vesicle as the dominant dissipative mechanism. We consider the relaxation dynamics of fluid vesicles put in an out-of-equilibrium state, but conclusions can be drawn regarding the kinetics or power consumption in regulated shape changes in the cell. On the basis of numerical calculations, we find that the dynamics arising from the membrane viscosity are qualitatively different from the dynamics arising from the bulk viscosity. When these two dissipation mechanisms are put in competition, we find that for small vesicles the membrane dissipation dominates, with a relaxation time that scales as the size of the vesicle to the power 2. For large vesicles, the bulk dissipation dominates, and the exponent in the relaxation time vs. size relation is 3.1 aArroyo, Marino1 aDeSimone, Antonio1 aHeltai, Luca  uhttp://hdl.handle.net/1963/3930