Long-range attraction of particles adhered to lipid vesicles

TL;DR

This study investigates how particles adhered to lipid vesicles exhibit long-range attractive interactions, revealing strong forces and binding energies that influence membrane morphology in biological systems.

Contribution

It provides the first quantitative analysis of long-range particle interactions on lipid membranes using maximum likelihood estimation.

Findings

Particles show strong long-range attraction on tense membranes.

Observed binding energy is approximately 150 k_B T.

Forces extend over several microns.

Abstract

Many biological systems fold thin sheets of lipid membrane into complex three-dimensional structures. This microscopic origami is often mediated by the adsorption and self-assembly of proteins on a membrane. As a model system to study adsorption-mediated interactions, we study the collective behavior of micrometric particles adhered to a lipid vesicle. We estimate the colloidal interactions using a maximum likelihood analysis of particle trajectories. When the particles are highly wrapped by a tense membrane, we observe strong long-range attractions with a typical binding energy of 150 $k_B T$ and significant forces extending a few microns.