title: Intake of silica nanoparticles by giant lipid vesicles: influence of particle size and thermodynamic membrane state.
abstract: The uptake of nanoparticles into cells often involves their engulfment by the plasma membrane and a fission of the latter. Understanding the physical mechanisms underlying these uptake processes may be achieved by the investigation of simple model systems that can be compared to theoretical models. Here, we present experiments on a massive uptake of silica nanoparticles by giant unilamellar lipid vesicles (GUVs). We find that this uptake process depends on the size of the particles as well as on the thermodynamic state of the lipid membrane. Our findings are discussed in the light of several theoretical models and indicate that these models have to be extended in order to capture the interaction between nanomaterials and biological membranes correctly.
authors: Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik I, Universität Augsburg, 86159 Augsburg, Germany ; Nanosystems Initiative Munich NIM, Schellingstr. 4, 80799 München, Germany.
authors: Florian G
authors: FG
authors: Strobl
authors: Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik I, Universität Augsburg, 86159 Augsburg, Germany.
authors: Florian
authors: F
authors: Seitz
authors: Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik I, Universität Augsburg, 86159 Augsburg, Germany ; Nanosystems Initiative Munich NIM, Schellingstr. 4, 80799 München, Germany.
authors: Christoph
authors: C
authors: Westerhausen
authors: Institut für Physik, Universität Augsburg, 86159 Augsburg, Germany.
authors: Armin
authors: A
authors: Reller
authors: Nanosystems Initiative Munich NIM, Schellingstr. 4, 80799 München, Germany ; Department of Chemistry and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), University of Munich (LMU), 81377 Munich, Germany.
authors: Adriano A
authors: AA
authors: Torrano
authors: Nanosystems Initiative Munich NIM, Schellingstr. 4, 80799 München, Germany ; Department of Chemistry and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), University of Munich (LMU), 81377 Munich, Germany.
authors: Christoph
authors: C
authors: Bräuchle
authors: Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik I, Universität Augsburg, 86159 Augsburg, Germany ; Nanosystems Initiative Munich NIM, Schellingstr. 4, 80799 München, Germany.
authors: Achim
authors: A
authors: Wixforth
authors: Department for Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
authors: Matthias F
authors: MF
authors: Schneider
keywords: cells; endocytosis; engulfment; fission; gel phase; giant unilamellar lipid vesicles (GUV); lipid membranes; liquid phase; nanoparticle; phosphocholines; uptake; vesicles; wrapping