Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 18, 2026
10:08
Phase Behavior of Charged Vesicles Under Symmetric and Asymmetric Solution Conditions Monitored with Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: October 24, 2017
Sizes of multilamellar vesicles in shear.
1Department of Chemistry, Center of Theoretical Physics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. cydlu@ntu.edu.tw
Physical Review Letters
|September 26, 2012
Summary
This study analyzes multilamellar vesicle (MLV) dynamics under shear, revealing how membrane interactions and applied shear influence MLV size selection and stability. The findings align with experimental observations for MLV size and terminal shear rates.
Area of Science:
- Physical Chemistry
- Materials Science
- Biophysics
Background:
- Multilamellar vesicles (MLVs) are complex structures with applications in drug delivery and materials science.
- Understanding the dynamic behavior of MLVs under external forces is crucial for controlling their properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To theoretically analyze the dynamics of multilamellar vesicles (MLVs) under applied shear.
- To investigate the mechanism of MLV size selection and the conditions for their stability.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of MLV dynamics.
- Modeling membrane interactions and solvent flow within MLVs.
- Investigating the development of dynamic free energy minima under shear.
Main Results:
- Membrane interactions in MLVs squeeze solvent, inducing flow between membranes.
- Applied affine shear creates minima in dynamic free energy density, selecting MLV size.
- A terminal shear rate is predicted, below which metastable MLVs exist.
Conclusions:
- The theoretical model successfully explains MLV size selection through shear-induced free energy minima.
- Predicted scaling relations for MLV size and terminal shear are consistent with experimental data.
- The study provides a theoretical framework for understanding MLV behavior under shear stress.
Related Concept Videos
01:38Intralumenal Vesicles and Multivesicular Bodies
Intraluminal vesicles (ILVs) are small vesicles 50-80 nm in diameter formed during the maturation of early endosomes. A specialized endosome containing numerous ILVs is called a multivesicular body (MVB). ILVs contain internalized molecules such as antigens, nucleic acids, proteins, and metabolites. Some of these molecules are released from the MVBs inside exosomes and are transported to other cells. Other MVBs contain molecules that are retained in the ILVs and are later degraded within the...
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...