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Updated: May 8, 2026

Spontaneous Formation and Rearrangement of Artificial Lipid Nanotube Networks as a Bottom-Up Model for Endoplasmic Reticulum
Published on: January 22, 2019
Lipid tubule growth by osmotic pressure
Padmini Rangamani1, Di Zhang, George Oster
1Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Abstract:
We present here a procedure for growing lipid tubules in vitro. This method allows us to grow tubules of consistent shape and structure, and thus can be a useful tool for nano-engineering applications. There are three stages during the tubule growth process: initiation, elongation and termination. Balancing the forces that act on the tubule head shows that the growth of tubules during the elongation phase depends on the balance between osmotic pressure and the viscous drag exerted on the membrane from the substrate and the external fluid. Using a combination of mathematical modelling and experiment, we identify the key forces that control tubule growth during the elongation phase.
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