Unilamellar vesicle formation and encapsulation by microfluidic jetting.

ABSTRACT: Compartmentalization of biomolecules within lipid membranes is a fundamental requirement of living systems and an essential feature of many pharmaceutical therapies. However, applications of membrane-enclosed solutions of proteins, DNA, and other biologically active compounds have been limited by the difficulty of forming unilamellar vesicles with controlled contents in a repeatable manner. Here, we demonstrate a method for simultaneously creating and loading giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) using a pulsed microfluidic jet. Akin to blowing a bubble, the microfluidic jet deforms a planar lipid bilayer into a vesicle that is filled with solution from the jet and separates from the planar bilayer. In contrast with existing techniques, our method rapidly generates multiple monodisperse, unila

SUBMITTER: Stachowiak JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2290793 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature