Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2026
10:08
Phase Behavior of Charged Vesicles Under Symmetric and Asymmetric Solution Conditions Monitored with Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: October 24, 2017
Shape deformation of ternary vesicles coupled with phase separation
Miho Yanagisawa1, Masayuki Imai, Takashi Taniguchi
1Department of Physics, Ochanomizu University, Otsuka, Bunkyo, Tokyo 112-8610, Japan.
Physical Review Letters
|June 4, 2008
Summary
Ternary vesicles undergoing phase separation exhibit unique shape deformations. Domain coarsening leads to shape convergence or pearling instability, with later budding influenced by membrane excess area.
Area of Science:
- Soft Matter Physics
- Biophysics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Vesicles are fundamental structures in biological and synthetic systems.
- Phase separation within membranes can significantly alter vesicle morphology.
- Understanding these shape dynamics is crucial for cellular processes and material design.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally investigate the shape deformations of ternary vesicles during phase separation.
- To analyze the influence of osmotic pressure on vesicle morphology.
- To characterize unique shape-deformation branches arising from phase separation.
Main Methods:
- Experimental study of ternary vesicles.
- Induction of phase separation via osmotic pressure difference.
- Observation and analysis of vesicle shape changes.
- Application of membrane elasticity models for discussion.
Main Results:
- Unique shape-deformation branches were observed during phase separation.
- Prolate, discocyte, and starfish vesicles converged to discocyte shapes during domain coarsening.
- Tube vesicles exhibited pearling instability, and late-stage budding (inward/outward) depended on excess area.
Conclusions:
- Vesicle shape and phase separation dynamics are intricately linked.
- The observed deformations provide insights into membrane mechanics and instability phenomena.
- Results can inform models of membrane behavior in complex systems.
More Related Videos
06:34In vitro Reconstitution of Cytoskeletal Networks inside Phase Separated Giant Unilamellar Vesicles (GUVs)
Published on: June 20, 2025
09:29Obtention of Giant Unilamellar Hybrid Vesicles by Electroformation and Measurement of their Mechanical Properties by Micropipette Aspiration
Published on: January 19, 2020
Related Concept Videos
01:32Pinching-off of Coated Vesicles
Vesicle budding is orchestrated by distinct cytosolic proteins such as adaptor proteins, coat proteins, and GTPases. To initiate vesicle budding, membrane-bending proteins containing crescent-shaped BAR domains bind to the lipid heads in the bilayer and distort the membrane to form a protein-coated vesicle bud. Adaptors proteins such as AP2 for clathrin-coated vesicles can nucleate on the deformed membrane. Finally, coat proteins such as clathrin or COPI and COPII assemble into a coat forming...
01:45Vesicular Tubular Clusters
After budding out from the ER membrane, some COPII vesicles lose their coat and fuse with one another to form larger vesicles and interconnected tubules called vesicular tubular clusters or VTCs. These clusters constitute a compartment at the ER-Golgi interface known as ERGIC (Endoplasmic Reticulum Golgi Intermediate Compartment). The ERGIC is a mobile membrane-bound cargo transport system that sorts proteins secreted from ER and delivers them to the Golgi.
With the help of motor proteins such...
With the help of motor proteins such...
01:43SNAREs and Membrane Fusion
Once a transport vesicle has recognized its target organelle, the vesicular membrane needs to fuse with the target membrane to unload the cargo. Transmembrane proteins called SNAREs present on organelle membranes and their vesicles, mediate vesicle 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...
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...
01:28Phase Diagrams of Ternary Systems
Consider a ternary system, which is composed of three components: water (W), ethanoic acid (E), and trichloromethane (T). Here, Ethanoic acid (E) is fully miscible with both water (W) and trichloromethane (T), meaning it can mix entirely with either of them. However, water and trichloromethane have partial miscibility, meaning they can only mix to a certain extent, beyond which two separate phases will form.The phase diagram of a ternary system is represented as an equilateral triangle, where...
01:34Fluid Mosaic Model
The fluid mosaic model was first proposed as a visual representation of research observations. The model comprises the composition and dynamics of membranes and serves as a foundation for future membrane-related studies. The model depicts the structure of the plasma membrane with a variety of components, which include phospholipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. These integral molecules are loosely bound, defining the cell’s border and providing fluidity for optimal function.LipidsThe most...
01:19Fluid Mosaic Model
Scientists identified the plasma membrane in the 1890s and its principal chemical components (lipids and proteins) by 1915. The model for plasma membrane structure, proposed in 1935 by Hugh Davson and James Danielli, was the first model to be widely accepted in the scientific community. The model was based on the plasma membrane's "railroad track" appearance in early electron micrographs. Davson and Danielli theorized that the plasma membrane's structure resembled a sandwich with the analogy of...