Mechanism of Pore Formation in Stearoyl-Oleoyl-Phosphatidylcholine Membranes Subjected to Lateral Tension

Theoretical model of a through pore formation in lipid bilayer membrane under applied lateral tension was developed. In the framework of elastic theory of liquid crystals adapted to lipid membranes, we calculated a continuous trajectory from intact bilayer through a hydrophobic defect to a through pore. It was shown that the major energetic characteristic of membrane stability with respect to the pore formation, i.e., line tension, depends both on the pore radius and on the value of the applied lateral tension. This leads to a non-monotonous dependence of the average waiting time of the pore formation on the lateral tension: at low tensions the waiting time was large, then there was a local minimum, after which the average waiting time was increasing again. For membranes formed from stearoyl-oleoyl phosphatidylcholine, the local minimum corresponded to the lateral tension of 7 mN/m; the calculated value of the edge line tension of a large pore was 16.5 pN. These results are consistent with available experimental data.