No abstract

Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) are an excellent model system for the investigation of lipid membranes, the study of membrane proteins and ion channels in a biomimetic environment, and in the creation of artificial cells. Here, we describe a novel method for the preparation of GUVs from single multilamellar liposomes by means of directed infrared laser heating. Our method generates individual unilamellar vesicles at selected locations, not only from natural and artificial lipid mixtures containing negatively charged lipids, but also from preparations of single lipids, such as neutral phosphatidylethanolamine. The presented method provides a new efficient resource for giant vesicle research and offers an alternative to the electroformation and de/rehydration techniques.

We report a novel method for the generation of GUVs (generate unilamellar vesicles) from spin-coated lipid films by means of localized heating. This technique enables GUV formation from both charged and neutral lipid species, as well as from a complex lipid mixture, in various ionic strength conditions. Encapsulation was possible during and after GUV formation.

No abstract

No abstract