title: Selective flow-induced vesicle rupture to sort by membrane mechanical properties.
abstract: Vesicle and cell rupture caused by large viscous stresses in ultrasonication is central to biomedical and bioprocessing applications. The flow-induced opening of lipid membranes can be exploited to deliver drugs into cells, or to recover products from cells, provided that it can be obtained in a controlled fashion. Here we demonstrate that differences in lipid membrane and vesicle properties can enable selective flow-induced vesicle break-up. We obtained vesicle populations with different membrane properties by using different lipids (SOPC, DOPC, or POPC) and lipid:cholesterol mixtures (SOPC:chol and DOPC:chol). We subjected vesicles to large deformations in the acoustic microstreaming flow generated by ultrasound-driven microbubbles. By simultaneously deforming vesicles with different properties in the same flow, we determined the conditions in which rupture is selective with respect to the membrane stretching elasticity. We also investigated the effect of vesicle radius and excess area on the threshold for rupture, and identified conditions for robust selectivity based solely on the mechanical properties of the membrane. Our work should enable new sorting mechanisms based on the difference in membrane composition and mechanical properties between different vesicles, capsules, or cells.
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
authors: Angelo
authors: A
authors: Pommella
authors: Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
authors: Nicholas J
authors: NJ
authors: Brooks
authors: Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
authors: John M
authors: JM
authors: Seddon
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
authors: Valeria
authors: V
authors: Garbin
mesh_terms: D019245:Compressive Strength / Q000528:radiation effects; D055119:Elastic Modulus / Q000528:radiation effects; D008560:Membrane Fluidity / Q000528:radiation effects*; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods*; D011312:Pressure; D033081:Shear Strength / Q000528:radiation effects; D013010:Sonication / Q000379:methods*; D013016:Sound; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength / Q000528:radiation effects; D053835:Unilamellar Liposomes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D014783:Viscosity / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D053835:Unilamellar Liposomes