Department of Applied Physics, Nanjing University of Science and Technology , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210094, China.
ACS Nano. 2016 Feb 23;10(2):2287-94. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.5b06991. Epub 2016 Jan 26.
Understanding and controlling vesicle shapes is a fundamental challenge in biophysics and materials design. In this paper, we design dynamic protocols for enlarging the shape space of both fluid and crystalline vesicles beyond the equilibrium zone. By removing water from within the vesicle at different rates, we numerically produced a series of dynamically trapped stable vesicle shapes for both fluid and crystalline vesicles in a highly controllable fashion. In crystalline vesicles that are continuously dehydrated, simulations show the initial appearance of small flat areas over the surface of the vesicles that ultimately merge to form fewer flat faces. In this way, the vesicles transform from a fullerene-like shape into various faceted polyhedrons. We perform analytical elasticity analysis to show that these salient features are attributable to the crystalline nature of the vesicle. The potential to use dynamic protocols, such as those used in this study, to engineer vesicle shape transformations is helpful for exploiting the richness of vesicle geometries for desired applications.
理解和控制囊泡的形状是生物物理和材料设计中的一个基本挑战。在本文中，我们设计了动态方案，以扩大流体和晶体囊泡的形状空间，使其超出平衡区。通过以不同的速率从囊泡内部去除水，我们以高度可控的方式在数值上产生了一系列用于流体和晶体囊泡的动态捕获稳定囊泡形状。在连续脱水的晶体囊泡中，模拟显示出囊泡表面上最初出现的小平面区域，这些区域最终合并形成更少的平面。通过这种方式，囊泡从类富勒烯形状转变为各种有面多面体。我们进行了弹性分析，以表明这些显著特征归因于囊泡的晶体性质。使用动态方案（如本研究中使用的方案）来设计囊泡形状转变的潜力有助于利用囊泡几何形状的丰富性来实现所需的应用。
