writer：Dehui Wang, Zhengfang Wu, Aiting Gao, Weihong Zhang, Chengying Kang, Qi Tao, Peng Yang*
keywords：Lysozyme, Vesicles, Lipid Bilayer, Surface Modification, Electrostatic Self-Assembly
source：期刊
specific source：Soft Matter
Issue time：2015年

Soft Matter, 2015, DOI: 10.1039/C5SM00049A

Based on a concept of a smooth and steady landing of fragile objects without destruction via a soft cushion, we have developed a model for the soft landing of deformable lipid giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) on solid surfaces. The foundation for a successful soft landing is a solid substrate with a two-layer coating including a bottom layer of positively charged lysozymes and an upper lipid membrane layer. We came to the clear conclusion that when anionic GUVs sedimented on a surface, the vesicle rupture occurred upon direct contact with the positively charged lysozyme layer due to strong Coulombic interactions. In contrast, certain separating distances achieved by the insertion of a soft lipid membrane cushion between the charged GUVs and the lysozyme layer attenuated the Coulombic force and created a mild buffer zone, ensuring the robust capture of GUVs on the substrate without their rupture. The non-covalent bonding facilitated a fully reversible stimuli-responsive capture/release of GUVs from the biomimetic solid surface, which has never before been demonstrated due to the extreme fragility of GUVs. As a matter of fact, the controllable capture/release of cells has been proven to be of vital importance in biotechnology, and the similarity of the present approach to cell capture/release is expected to open previously inaccessible avenues of research.