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Wrapping of Microparticles by Floppy Lipid Vesicles

Hendrik T. Spanke, Robert W. Style, Claire François-Martin, Maria Feofilova, Manuel Eisentraut, Holger Kress, Jaime Agudo-Canalejo, and Eric R. Dufresne
Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 198102 – Published 5 November 2020
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Abstract

Lipid membranes, the barrier defining living cells and many of their subcompartments, bind to a wide variety of nano- and micrometer sized objects. In the presence of strong adhesive forces, membranes can strongly deform and wrap the particles, an essential step in crossing the membrane for a variety of healthy and disease-related processes. A large body of theoretical and numerical work has focused on identifying the physical properties that underly wrapping. Using a model system of micron-sized colloidal particles and giant unilamellar lipid vesicles with tunable adhesive forces, we measure a wrapping phase diagram and make quantitative comparisons to theoretical models. Our data are consistent with a model of membrane-particle interactions accounting for the adhesive energy per unit area, membrane bending rigidity, particle size, and vesicle radius.

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  • Received 7 July 2020
  • Accepted 13 October 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.198102

© 2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

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A Phase Diagram for Wrapping

Published 5 November 2020

Researchers find the conditions for when a cell membrane will wrap around a plastic bead, providing insight into how living things interact with viruses, microplastics, and other objects.

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Authors & Affiliations

Hendrik T. Spanke1, Robert W. Style1, Claire François-Martin1, Maria Feofilova1, Manuel Eisentraut2, Holger Kress2, Jaime Agudo-Canalejo3, and Eric R. Dufresne1,*

  • 1ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
  • 2Department of Physics, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
  • 3Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPIDS), D-37077 Göttingen, Germany

  • *eric.dufresne@mat.ethz.ch

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Issue

Vol. 125, Iss. 19 — 6 November 2020

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