Abstract
In this article we detail a robust high-throughput microfluidic platform capable of fabricating either symmetric or asymmetric giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) and characterise the mechanical properties of their membranes.
Highlights
In this article we detail a robust high-throughput microfluidic platform capable of fabricating either symmetric or asymmetric giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) and characterise the mechanical properties of their membranes
They can exhibit the full scope of fundamental traits of biological membranes, such as bilayer size, curvature and shape, lamellarity, asymmetry and the capacity to accommodate functional transmembrane proteins. They have been used across a wide scale of applications, notably, as a chassis for artificial cells and protocell systems.[8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. They have been used recently to demonstrate that mechanical properties such as the bending rigidity, which characterises the ability of membranes to bend under low stress, are significantly affected by chain length,[15,16] headgroup type,[17] presence of proteins[18] and recently, most intriguingly through the presence of lipid asymmetry in model membrane systems.[19]
We present a microfluidic platform for the generation of asymmetric GUVs
Summary
Studying the effects of asymmetry on the bending rigidity of lipid membranes formed by microfluidics†
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