MembraneAnalysis.jl

MembraneAnalysis.jl is a Julia package for analyzing simulations of multi-component lipid bilayers. For membranes simulated in a flat geometry, fluctuation modes of membrane surface height, membrane thickness, and lateral distributions of membrane species can be calculated to be used in determining the mechanical properties of the membrane. The package includes functionality to utilize a novel theoretical framework (1, 2) to determine the spatial extent of the influence of a single lipid molecule (or embedded protein) on the mechanical properties of the surrounding membrane, which allows us to determine curvature and thickness preference of membrane species, as well as spatial correlations between them.

MembraneAnalysis.jl is designed to be used by biophysical researchers in need of a fast analysis tool that can be easily built upon to enable implementation of new computational methods to guide theoretical descriptions of membrane physics.

Some of the membrane properties that MembraneAnalysis.jl can determine include:

• Bending modulus of the membrane via multiple fluctuation-based approaches
• Area expansion modulus of the membrane
• Relative spontanous curvature of the lipid species
• Nuetral surface of the membrane
• Relative thickness preference of the lipid species

• Fluctuation Analysis
• Curvature Analysis
• Thickness Analysis
• Lipids
• Density Analysis
• Interactions
• Utilities