Domain growth dynamics in multicomponent vesicles composed of BSM/DOPC/cholesterol

We have investigated the domain growth dynamics in vesicles composed of BSM/DOPC/cholesterol using fluorescence microscopy. A ternary mixture of equimolar BSM, DOPC, and cholesterol was employed, and two fluorescent dyes were added for comparison studies. We found that in the early stage the number of the domains on the vesicle surface, N(t), decayed with time as N(t) t−2/3, which confirmed previous theoretical prediction and numerical simulation, while in the late stage N(t) decreased more quickly, as t−β, with β≈2. We discuss the faster growth dynamics based on the collision-induced collision mechanism.