title: Carbon Nanotubes Mediate Fusion of Lipid Vesicles.
abstract: The fusion of lipid membranes is opposed by high energetic barriers. In living organisms, complex protein machineries carry out this biologically essential process. Here we show that membrane-spanning carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can trigger spontaneous fusion of small lipid vesicles. In coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, we find that a CNT bridging between two vesicles locally perturbs their lipid structure. Their outer leaflets merge as the CNT pulls lipids out of the membranes, creating an hourglass-shaped fusion intermediate with still intact inner leaflets. As the CNT moves away from the symmetry axis connecting the vesicle centers, the inner leaflets merge, forming a pore that completes fusion. The distinct mechanism of CNT-mediated membrane fusion may be transferable, providing guidance in the development of fusion agents, e.g., for the targeted delivery of drugs or nucleic acids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics , Max-von-Laue Straße 3, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Ramachandra M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Bhaskara
authors.affiliation: Department of Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics , Max-von-Laue Straße 3, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Linker
authors.affiliation: Department of Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics , Max-von-Laue Straße 3, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vögele
authors.affiliation: Department of Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics , Max-von-Laue Straße 3, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Köfinger
authors.affiliation: Department of Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics , Max-von-Laue Straße 3, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.|Institute for Biophysics, Goethe University Frankfurt , 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7768-746X
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hummer
keywords: carbon nanotube; coarse-grained simulations; membrane fusion; membrane staples; vesicle