Carbon Nanotubes Mediate Fusion of Lipid Vesicles.
ACS Nano
; 11(2): 1273-1280, 2017 02 28.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28103440
ABSTRACT
The fusion of lipid membranes is opposed by high energetic barriers. In living organisms, complex protein machineries carry out this biologically essential process. Here we show that membrane-spanning carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can trigger spontaneous fusion of small lipid vesicles. In coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, we find that a CNT bridging between two vesicles locally perturbs their lipid structure. Their outer leaflets merge as the CNT pulls lipids out of the membranes, creating an hourglass-shaped fusion intermediate with still intact inner leaflets. As the CNT moves away from the symmetry axis connecting the vesicle centers, the inner leaflets merge, forming a pore that completes fusion. The distinct mechanism of CNT-mediated membrane fusion may be transferable, providing guidance in the development of fusion agents, e.g., for the targeted delivery of drugs or nucleic acids.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
ACS Nano
Year:
2017
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Germany