Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 26, 2026

Phase Behavior of Charged Vesicles Under Symmetric and Asymmetric Solution Conditions Monitored with Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: October 24, 2017
Shear-induced formation of vesicles in membrane phases: kinetics and size selection mechanisms, elasticity versus
1Centre de Physique Moléculaire Optique et Hertzienne, UMR 5798, Université Bordeaux I, 351 Cours de la Libération, 33400 Talence, France.
Abstract:
Multilamellar vesicles can be formed upon shearing lamellar phases (L(alpha)) and phase-separated lamellar-sponge (L(alpha)/L(3)) mixtures. In the first case, the vesicle volume fraction is always 100% and the vesicle size is monitored by elasticity ("onion textures"). In the second system the vesicle volume fraction can be tuned from 0 to 100% and the mean size results from a balance between capillary and viscous forces ("Taylor droplets"). However, despite these differences, in both systems we show that the formation of vesicles is a strain-controlled process monitored by a universal primary buckling instability of the lamellae.
Related Concept Videos
Mechanisms of Membrane-bending
Membrane bending can happen due to intrinsic changes in lipid composition or extrinsic association with different proteins. The proteins involved...
Mechanisms of Membrane Domain Formation
Another mechanism for membrane domain formation involves membrane proteins interacting with cytoskeletal...
Pinching-off of Coated Vesicles
SNAREs and Membrane Fusion
SNAREs exist in pairs that symmetrically interact and catalyze the fusion of the lipid bilayers in vesicle and target organelle. v-SNARE in the vesicle membrane are single polypeptide chains that bind to a complementary t-SNARE, composed of 2...

