Abstract
Inspired by the ability of cell membranes to alter their shape in response to bound particles, we report an experimental study of long, slender nanorods binding to lipid bilayer vesicles and altering the membrane shape. Our work illuminates the role of particle concentration, adhesion strength, and membrane tension in determining the membrane morphology. We combined giant unilamellar vesicles with oppositely charged nanorods, carefully tuning the adhesion strength, membrane tension, and particle concentration. With increasing adhesion strength, the primary behaviors observed were membrane deformation, vesicle-vesicle adhesion, and vesicle rupture. These behaviors were observed in well-defined regions in the parameter space with sharp transitions between them. We observed the deformation of the membrane resulting in tubulation, textured surfaces, and small and large lipid-particle aggregates. These responses are robust and repeatable and provide a new physical understanding of the dependence on the shape, binding affinity, and particle concentration in membrane remodeling. The design principles derived from these experiments may lead to new bioinspired membrane-based materials.