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Emerging Dynamics of Janus particle Engulfment by biomimetic Membranes

EDEM (ANR project 2022-2026)

EDEM is a reserach project led by A. Stocco in collaboration with Ali Abou-Hassan’s Team funded by ANR. EDEM aims at understanding and controlling particle engulfment and penetration in membranes using a biomimetic approach based on artificial self-propelling Janus particles interacting with giant unilamellar vesicles made of lipid bilayers acting as cell like compartments.

Objectives EDEM project is intended to:

  • (1) engineer (using microfluidics) a new generation of multifunctional magnetic and plasmonic Janus hybrid microparticles which can be easily tracked by videomicroscopy, manipulated magnetically and are able to self-propel by light;
  • (2) to study in a biomimetic approach the interaction of such particles with GUV membranes to control the particle engulfment by the membrane via the particle morphology, adhesion strength, and the membrane spontaneous curvature;
  • (3) and finally characterize the interaction of these self-propelled Janus microparticles with lipid bilayer membranes. Dedicated experiments at the single particle level to achieve a fine control on particle penetration, vesicle transportation and membrane disruption will be carried out during this project.

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See the article: Driven Engulfment of Janus Particles by Giant Vesicles in and out of Thermal Equilibrium.

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