Hydrodynamic Forces on Macromolecules Protruding from Lipid Bilayers Due to External Liquid Flows.

It has previously been observed that an externally applied hydrodynamic shear flow above a fluid lipid bilayer can change the local concentration of macromolecules that are associated with the lipid bilayer. The external liquid flow results in a hydrodynamic force on molecules protruding from the lipid bilayer, causing them to move in the direction of the flow. However, there has been no quantitative study about the magnitude of these forces. We here use finite element simulations to investigate how the magnitude of the external hydrodynamic forces varies with the size and shape of the studied macromolecule. The simulations show that the hydrodynamic force is proportional to the effective hydrodynamic area of the studied molecule, Ahydro, multiplied by the mean hydrodynamic shear stress acting on the membrane surface, σhydro. The parameter Ahydro depends on the size and shape of the studied macromolecule above the lipid bilayer and scales with the cross-sectional area of the molecule. We also investigate ...