The stretching elasticity of biomembranes determines their line tension and bending rigidity

In this work, some implications of a recent model for the mechanical behavior of biological membranes (Deseri et al. in Continuum Mech Thermodyn 20(5):255–273, 2008) are exploited by means of a prototypical one-dimensional problem. We show that the knowledge of the membrane stretching elasticity permits to establish a precise connection among surface tension, bending rigidities and line tension during phase transition phenomena. For a specific choice of the stretching energy density, we evaluate these quantities in a membrane with coexistent fluid phases, showing a satisfactory comparison with the available experimental measurements. Finally, we determine the thickness profile inside the boundary layer where the order–disorder transition is observed.