Contact deformation of liposome in the presence of osmosis

The role of osmotic pressure on the geometry of adherent liposome remains an intricate question in the mechanics of supramolecular structures. In this study, confocal reflection interference contrast microscopy in combination with cross-polarized microscopy was applied to probe the geometry of deformed liposome on fused silica substrates through the determination of a vesicle-substrate separation profile. In parallel, a theoretical model which describes the large deformation of the lipid bilayer membrane under both out-plane bending and in-plane shear forces is developed. Then, the global deformation geometry of the adherent liposome is rigorously compared with our experimental data. It is shown that the adhesion contact area increases in dimension, the liposome volume decreases, and the vesicle height decreases under the reduced osmotic pressure. The coupling of experimental data and a modified theoretical framework of the adherent liposome provides a more explicit result in comparison with previous studies and demonstrates the possibility of modeling the change of liposome mechanics under the influence of osmosis. (C) 2003 Biomedical Engineering Society.