[12p-PA6-1~15] 12.6 Nanobiotechnology

[12p-PA6-8] Vesicle fusion facilitated by control of lipid composition

Ami Yasuhara¹, Akira Heya¹, 〇Koji Sumitomo¹ (1.Univ. of Hyogo)

Keywords:vesicle fusion, facilitation of fusion

In order to understand the vesicle fusion process, we observed the fusion of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) made of DOPC/DOPE lipid mixture and small vesicles encapsulating dyes. When DOPE is not included in GUV lipids, the fusion efficiency is very low, and most of them remain in the adsorbed or semi-fused state. In contrast, it was found that increasing DOPE content accelerated the transition from semi-fusion to complete fusion because the small head group of DOPE destabilized the lipid bilayer.