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Active particles induce large shape deformations in giant lipid vesicles

Author

Listed:
  • Hanumantha Rao Vutukuri

    (ETH Zürich)

  • Masoud Hoore

    (Forschungszentrum Jülich)

  • Clara Abaurrea-Velasco

    (Forschungszentrum Jülich)

  • Lennard Buren

    (ETH Zürich)

  • Alessandro Dutto

    (ETH Zürich)

  • Thorsten Auth

    (Forschungszentrum Jülich)

  • Dmitry A. Fedosov

    (Forschungszentrum Jülich)

  • Gerhard Gompper

    (Forschungszentrum Jülich)

  • Jan Vermant

    (ETH Zürich)

Abstract

Biological cells generate intricate structures by sculpting their membrane from within to actively sense and respond to external stimuli or to explore their environment1–4. Several pathogenic bacteria also provide examples of how localized forces strongly deform cell membranes from inside, leading to the invasion of neighbouring healthy mammalian cells5. Giant unilamellar vesicles have been successfully used as a minimal model system with which to mimic biological cells6–11, but the realization of a minimal system with localized active internal forces that can strongly deform lipid membranes from within and lead to dramatic shape changes remains challenging. Here we present a combined experimental and simulation study that demonstrates how self-propelled particles enclosed in giant unilamellar vesicles can induce a plethora of non-equilibrium shapes and active membrane fluctuations. Using confocal microscopy, in the experiments we explore the membrane response to local forces exerted by self-phoretic Janus microswimmers. To quantify dynamic membrane changes, we perform Langevin dynamics simulations of active Brownian particles enclosed in thin membrane shells modelled by dynamically triangulated surfaces. The most pronounced shape changes are observed at low and moderate particle loadings, with the formation of tether-like protrusions and highly branched, dendritic structures, whereas at high volume fractions globally deformed vesicle shapes are observed. The resulting state diagram predicts the conditions under which local internal forces generate various membrane shapes. A controlled realization of such distorted vesicle morphologies could improve the design of artificial systems such as small-scale soft robots and synthetic cells.

Suggested Citation

  • Hanumantha Rao Vutukuri & Masoud Hoore & Clara Abaurrea-Velasco & Lennard Buren & Alessandro Dutto & Thorsten Auth & Dmitry A. Fedosov & Gerhard Gompper & Jan Vermant, 2020. "Active particles induce large shape deformations in giant lipid vesicles," Nature, Nature, vol. 586(7827), pages 52-56, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:586:y:2020:i:7827:d:10.1038_s41586-020-2730-x
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2730-x
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    Cited by:

    1. Jens Grauer & Falko Schmidt & Jesús Pineda & Benjamin Midtvedt & Hartmut Löwen & Giovanni Volpe & Benno Liebchen, 2021. "Active droploids," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. A. Tiribocchi & M. Durve & M. Lauricella & A. Montessori & D. Marenduzzo & S. Succi, 2023. "The crucial role of adhesion in the transmigration of active droplets through interstitial orifices," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Yan Yu & Runfeng Lin & Hongyue Yu & Minchao Liu & Enyun Xing & Wenxing Wang & Fan Zhang & Dongyuan Zhao & Xiaomin Li, 2023. "Versatile synthesis of metal-compound based mesoporous Janus nanoparticles," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Weria Pezeshkian & John H. Ipsen, 2024. "Mesoscale simulation of biomembranes with FreeDTS," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Matthew S. E. Peterson & Aparna Baskaran & Michael F. Hagan, 2021. "Vesicle shape transformations driven by confined active filaments," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    6. Pragya Arora & Souvik Sadhukhan & Saroj Kumar Nandi & Dapeng Bi & A. K. Sood & Rajesh Ganapathy, 2024. "A shape-driven reentrant jamming transition in confluent monolayers of synthetic cell-mimics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.

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