Optical stretching of giant unilamellar vesicles with an integrated dual-beam optical trap

Mehmet E. Solmaz, Roshni Biswas, Shalene Sankhagowit, James R. Thompson, Camilo A. Mejia, Noah Malmstadt, and Michelle L. Povinelli

We have integrated a dual-beam optical trap into a microfluidic platform and used it to study membrane mechanics in giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). We demonstrate the trapping and stretching of GUVs and characterize the membrane response to a step stress. We then measure area strain as a function of applied stress to extract the bending modulus of the lipid bilayer in the low-tension regime.

DOI