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. 2013 Sep 4;10(88):20130637.
doi: 10.1098/rsif.2013.0637. Print 2013 Nov 6.

Lipid tubule growth by osmotic pressure

Padmini Rangamani  1 , Di Zhang, George Oster, Amy Q Shen
Affiliations

Lipid tubule growth by osmotic pressure

Padmini Rangamani et al. J R Soc Interface. .

Abstract

We present here a procedure for growing lipid tubules in vitro. This method allows us to grow tubules of consistent shape and structure, and thus can be a useful tool for nano-engineering applications. There are three stages during the tubule growth process: initiation, elongation and termination. Balancing the forces that act on the tubule head shows that the growth of tubules during the elongation phase depends on the balance between osmotic pressure and the viscous drag exerted on the membrane from the substrate and the external fluid. Using a combination of mathematical modelling and experiment, we identify the key forces that control tubule growth during the elongation phase.

Keywords: lipid membranes; lipid tubules; vesicles.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Schematics of lipid tubule formation by using the confinement method. (a) Lipid vesicle suspension being dispersed between the glass slide and glass coverslip. (b) Evaporation-induced capillary flow moving vesicles towards the edges of the coverslip and forming myelin figures and buds. (c) Tubules elongated from the edge of the confined glass surfaces. (Online version in colour.)
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
(a) Snapshot of a lipid tubule formed in water between the confined glasses, using an inverted Leica microscope. (b) Snapshot of multiple lipid tubules formed in water between the confined glasses. (Online version in colour.)
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
A schematic of a lipid tubule showing the forces acting on the tubule head and body.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
(a) Length of the tubule versus time. (b) Comparison between the experimental data and the model using an L2 versus time plot. Each line shows a separate measurement and η is the average fit ± s.d. for these three lines. Only the elongation phase is shown in (b). (Online version in colour.)
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Growth of tubules in different concentrations of DMSO: (a) 0.625% DMSO, (b) 1.25% DMSO and (c) 2.5% DMSO. Each line is a separate tubule and η for each concentration of DMSO represents the average behaviour ± s.d. for each condition. Only the elongation phase is shown in this figure. (Online version in colour.)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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