Theoretical analysis and experimental quantification on the ellipsoidal relaxation of vesicles are presented. The current work reveals the simplicity and universal aspects of this process. The Helfrich formula is shown to apply to the dynamic relaxation of moderate-to-high tension membranes, and a closed-form solution is derived which predicts the vesicle aspect ratio as a function of time. Scattered data are unified by a time scale, which leads to a similarity behavior, governed by a distinctive solution for each vesicle type. Two separate regimes in the relaxation are identified, namely, the “entropic” and the “constant-tension” regimes. The bending rigidity and the initial membrane tension can be simultaneously extracted from the data analysis, posing the current approach as an effective means for the mechanical analysis of biomembranes.

• Received 28 January 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.128303