Lipid nanodomains in cell membranes are believed to play a significant role in a number of critical cellular processes (Elson, et al., 2010). These include, for example, replication processes in enveloped viruses such as bird flu and HIV and signaling mechanisms underlying pathological conditions such as cancer. Due to the potential for developing new disease treatments through the control of these membrane rafts, the biophysics underlying their formation has been the subject of intense study, much of this focused on domain formation in giant unilamellar lipid vesicles (GUVs), a simplified model system.

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