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Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Pulling Membrane Nanotubes from Giant Unilamellar Vesicles
Published on: December 7, 2017
Halloysite nanotubes interacting with lipid vesicle membranes
Chiara Ferlito1, Lorenzo Lisuzzo1, Giuseppe Lazzara1
1Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica Emilio Segrè, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, pad. 17, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
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Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), naturally occurring aluminosilicates with a tubular structure, are promising nanocarriers for drug delivery due to their biocompatibility and unique morphology. However, their interaction with lipid membranes remains not fully explored. In this work, we aim at elucidating on the adhesion of HNTs on unilamellar vesicles made of phospholipids used as model of biological membranes. The adhesion was modulated by varying the lipid composition, ionic strength, and the size ratio between HNTs and vesicles. The adhesion mechanism was also studied by trapping a single HNT with optical tweezers and let it interact with a single vesicle. These findings show a preferential adhesion of the HNT tip on the lipid bilayer, which represents an important step toward directional membrane targeting in biomedical applications.
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