AC-electric field dependent electroformation of giant lipid vesicles

Giant vesicles of larger than 5 μm, which have been of intense interest for their potential as drug delivery vehicles and as a model system for cell membranes, can be rapidly formed from a spin-coated lipid thin film under an electric field. In this work, we explore the AC-field dependent electrofor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Colloids and surfaces, B, Biointerfaces B, Biointerfaces, 2010-08, Vol.79 (1), p.75-82
Main Authors: Politano, Timothy J., Froude, Victoria E., Jing, Benxin, Zhu, Yingxi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AC-electrokinetics
Drug Carriers - chemistry
Drug delivery systems
Electric fields
Electric potential
Electrochemical Techniques - methods
Electrodes
Electroformation
Electroforming
Field strength
Fluorescence microscopy
Giant unilamellar vesicles
GUV
Lipid Bilayers - chemistry
Lipids
Lipids - chemistry
Mathematical models
Microscopy, Fluorescence
Technology, Pharmaceutical - methods
Unilamellar Liposomes - chemistry
Vesicles
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Summary:Giant vesicles of larger than 5 μm, which have been of intense interest for their potential as drug delivery vehicles and as a model system for cell membranes, can be rapidly formed from a spin-coated lipid thin film under an electric field. In this work, we explore the AC-field dependent electroformation of giant lipid vesicles in aqueous media over a wide range of AC-frequency from 1 Hz to 1 MHz and peak-to-peak field strength from 0.212 V/mm to 40 V/mm between two parallel conducting electrode surfaces. By using fluorescence microscopy, we perform in-situ microscopic observations of the structural evolution of giant vesicles formed from spin-coated lipid films under varied uniform AC-electric fields. The real-time observation of bilayer bulging from the lipid film, vesicle growth and fusing further examine the critical role of AC-induced electroosmotic flow of surrounding fluids for giant vesicle formation. A rich AC-frequency and field strength phase diagram is obtained experimentally to predict the AC-electroformation of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) of l-α-phosphatidylcholine, where a weak dependence of vesicle size on AC-frequency is observed at low AC-field voltages, showing decreased vesicle size with a narrowed size distribution with increased AC-frequency. Formation of vesicles was shown to be constrained by an upper field strength of 10 V/mm and an upper AC-frequency of 10 kHz. Within these parameters, giant lipid vesicles were formed predominantly unilamellar and prevalent across the entire electrode surfaces.
ISSN:0927-7765
1873-4367
DOI:10.1016/j.colsurfb.2010.03.032