Viscoelastic dynamics of spherical composite vesicles

A micromechanical model for the low-frequency dynamics of spherical composite vesicles (CVs) is proposed. Solid-like viscoelastic properties of the CVs are taken into account. The equations of motion of a CV surrounded by a viscous liquid are derived. They have discrete solutions which describe linearly coupled stretching and bending relaxation modes and an independent shear mode. The qualitative difference between the bending modes excited in a spherical vesicle and that in a flat membrane is demonstrated. The shear elasticity of the CVs gives an essential contribution to the relaxation rate of the bending mode at small wave numbers. It is also shown that even in an incompressible spherical vesicle with a finite shear modulus, the bending mode involves both radial and tangent displacements. These reasons make both in-plane and out-of-plane low-frequency responses of the CV quite different with respect to those of the flat membrane. To compare our theoretical results with published experimental data, the power spectra of the actin-coated CV are calculated.