Thermodynamic relaxation drives expulsion in giant unilamellar vesicles

Intake of silica nanoparticles by giant lipid vesicles: influence of particle size and thermodynamic membrane state

The uptake of nanoparticles into cells often involves their engulfment by the plasma membrane and a fission of the latter. Understanding the physical mechanisms underlying these uptake processes may be achieved by the investigation of simple model systems that can be compared to theoretical models. Here, we present experiments on a massive uptake of silica nanoparticles by giant unilamellar lipid vesicles (GUVs). We find that this uptake process depends on the size of the particles as well as on the thermodynamic state of the lipid membrane. Our findings are discussed in the light of several theoretical models and indicate that these models have to be extended in order to capture the interaction between nanomaterials and biological membranes correctly.

Chemical and mechanical impact of silica nanoparticles on the phase transition behavior of phospholipid membranes in theory and experiment

The interaction of nanoparticles (NPs) with lipid membranes is an integral step in the interaction of NPs and living cells. During particle uptake, the membrane has to bend. Due to the nature of their phase diagram, the modulus of compression of these membranes can vary by more than one order of magnitude, and thus both the thermodynamic and mechanical aspects of the membrane have to be considered simultaneously. We demonstrate that silica NPs have at least two independent effects on the phase transition of phospholipid membranes: 1), a chemical effect resulting from the finite instability of the NPs in water; and 2), a mechanical effect that originates from a bending of the lipid membrane around the NPs. Here, we report on recent experiments that allowed us to clearly distinguish both effects, and present a thermodynamic model that includes the elastic energy of the membranes and correctly predicts our findings both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Biological reactivity of nanoparticles: mosaics from optical microscopy videos of giant lipid vesicles

Emerging fields such as nanomedicine and nanotoxicology, demand new information on the effects of nanoparticles on biological membranes and lipid vesicles are suitable as an experimental model for bio-nano interaction studies. This paper describes image processing algorithms which stitch video sequences into mosaics and recording the shapes of thousands of lipid vesicles, which were used to assess the effect of CoFe(2)O(4) nanoparticles on the population of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine lipid vesicles. The applicability of this methodology for assessing the potential of engineered nanoparticles to affect morphological properties of lipid membranes is discussed.

Phase transition induced fission in lipid vesicles

In this work we demonstrate how the first order phase transition in giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) can function as a trigger for membrane fission. When driven through their gel-fluid phase transition GUVs exhibit budding or pearl formation. These buds remain connected to the mother vesicle presumably by a small neck. Cooling these vesicles from the fluid phase (T>T(m)) through the phase transition into the gel state (T<T(m)), leads to complete rupture and fission of the neck, while the mother vesicle remains intact. Pearling tubes which formed upon heating break-up and decay into multiple individual vesicles which then diffuse freely. Finally we demonstrate that mimicking the intracellular bulk viscosity by increasing the bulk viscosity to 40 cP does not affect the overall fission process, but leads to a significant decrease in the size of the released vesicles.