Tension-induced morphological transition in mixed lipid bilayers.

Recently, Rozovsky et al. reported on the morphology and dynamics of superstructures in three-component lipid bilayers containing saturated lipid, unsaturated lipid, and cholesterol (Rozovsky, S.; Kaizuka, Y.; Groves, J. T. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 36). We suggest that the observed sequence of the striped-to-hexagonal morphological transition in mixed bilayers can be attributed to an enhanced membrane surface tension that is induced by the vesicle adhesion onto the solid surface.