Corrections to the Saffman-Delbruck mobility for membrane bound proteins

Abstract

Recent experiments by Y. Gambin et al. [PNAS 103, 2098 (2006)] have called into question the applicability of the Saffman-Delbruck diffusivity for proteins embedded in the lipid bilayers. We present a simple argument to account for this observation that should be generically valid for a large class of transmembrane and membrane bound proteins. Whenever the protein-lipid interactions locally deform the membrane, that deformation generates new hydrodynamic stresses on the protein-membrane complex leading to a suppression of its mobility. We show that this suppression depends on the protein size in a manner consistent with the work of Y. Gambin et al.