From Shallow to Full Wrapping: Geometry and Deformability Dictate Lipid Vesicle Internalization.

ABSTRACT: The deformability and adhesion of vesicles critically influence their engulfment by lipid membranes, a process that is central to endocytosis, viral entry, drug delivery, and intercellular transport. We developed a versatile experimental system of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) that interact via depletion-induced adhesion. Combining experiments with continuum simulations, we construct a state diagram identifying conditions for the endo- and exocytic engulfment of small GUVs by larger ones. Leveraging full 3D confocal reconstructions of vesicle curvature, we experimentally quantify the bendocapillary length, a scale governing the competition between membrane bending and adhesion. When the vesicle size exceeds this length, wrapping is governed by geometry. In contrast, near this scale, de

SUBMITTER: van der Ham S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12636076 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature