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Updated: Mar 25, 2026

Obtention of Giant Unilamellar Hybrid Vesicles by Electroformation and Measurement of their Mechanical Properties by Micropipette Aspiration
Published on: January 19, 2020
Membrane tubulation from giant lipid vesicles in alternating electric fields
K Antonova1, V Vitkova1, C Meyer2
1Institute of Solid State Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tzarigradsko chaussee, Sofia 1784, Bulgaria.
Abstract:
We report on the formation of tubular membrane protrusions from giant unilamellar vesicles in alternating electric fields. The construction of the experimental chamber permitted the application of external AC fields with strength of dozens of V/mm and kHz frequency during relatively long time periods (several minutes). Besides the vesicle electrodeformation from quasispherical to prolate ellipsoidal shape, the formation of long tubular membrane protrusions with length of up to several vesicle diameters, arising from the vesicular surface in the field direction, was registered and analyzed. The threshold electric field at which the electro-induced protrusions appeared was lower than the field strengths inducing membrane electroporation.
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