Adsorbed liposome deformation studied with quartz crystal microbalance

Deformation of surface-adsorbed liposomes is an important parameter that governs the kinetics of their transformations, but one that is very difficult to measure in the case of nm-size liposomes. We investigate the deformation of dimyristoyl phosphatidyl choline liposomes by quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) as a function of temperature and show that it follows the dependence of this lipid's bending modulus on temperature, as expected from theoretical considerations. To corroborate our approach, we model QCM response from adsorbed liposomes by explicitly considering their shape and mechanical properties.