title: Osmotic swelling of phospholipid vesicles causes them to fuse with a planar phospholipid bilayer membrane.
abstract: Fusion of phospholipid vesicles with planar bilayer membranes occurs if the vesicles that contact the planar membrane swell osmotically after the replacement in their medium of an impermeant solute by a permeant one. This finding directly demonstrates that osmotic swelling is a driving force for vesicle-planar membrane fusion. The method used to induce vesicle swelling and fusion may have relevance for biological systems.
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000494:pharmacology; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008081:Liposomes; D008561:Membrane Fusion; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009940:Organoids / Q000502:physiology; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D010743:Phospholipids; D018272:Porins
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008081:Liposomes; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D010743:Phospholipids; D018272:Porins; D002118:Calcium