Three dimensional (temperature-tension-composition) phase map of mixed DOPC-DPPC vesicles: Two solid phases and a fluid phase coexist on three intersecting planes.

Mapping the phase behavior of multicomponent phospholipid membranes has been an ongoing pursuit, motivated by interest in both fundamental physics and cell function. Prior investigations addressed temperature-composition space and the features of the associated domains. The current study additionally considers membrane tension, analogous to pressure in bulk materials. Focusing on model mixed 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC and DPPC respectively) membranes, we examine the thermodynamic impact of tension on fluid-solid coexistence and the nature of phase-separated domains. Reported here is the 3 dimensional composition-temperature-tension phase map containing three intersecting curved surfaces. Depending on the system's position in this 3D space, giant unilamellar vesicles containing DOPC and DPPC may exhibit, in addition to a 2-component fluid Lα phase, two different types of solid DPPC-rich domains: tracer-excluding hexagonal patches or tracer-selective stripes. The fluid phase occurs at high temperatures. At cool temperatures striped solid DPPC-rich domains coexist with the fluid at elevated tensions. These stripes occur independent of tension, at the coolest temperatures. At low tensions and intermediate temperatures, patchy solid DPPC-rich domains coexist with the Lα fluid and may persist, if kinetically trapped, at lower temperatures. We associate the striped DPPC domains with a tilt-gel (Lβ') morphology and the hexagonal DPPC patches with a dense corrugated ripple phase (Pβ'). These assignments, based on the reported areal densities of the corrugated and tilt solids, enabled first principles estimates of the coexistence boundaries that match the experiments well, including the tension sensitivity of coexistence curves and triple-point-like features for fixed composition.