Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme
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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik
CPP 34: Poster: Wetting, Micro and Nano Fluidics
CPP 34.8: Poster
Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 16:30–18:30, Poster C
Microfluidic Platform for Membrane Fusion Studies — •Nabor Vargas1, Jean-Baptiste Fleury1, and Ralf Seemann1,2 — 1Experimental Physics, Saarland University, D-66041 Saarbrücken — 2MPI for Dynamics and Self-Organization, D-37073 Göttingen
Membrane fusion is essential for the life of eukaryotic cells, it is known as the process whereby two separate lipid bilayers merge to become one by means of a family of fusogenic proteins. Research on membrane fusion has been intense along past decades, but we are still far from unveiling the whole phenomena. We are exploring a new microfluidic approach to study single membrane fusion events in a controllable geometry. This experimental setup shall allow for the production of stable lipid bilayers, easy variation of the lipid membrane composition like the insertion of proteins, and superior control of the fusion process by e.g. by optical and electrical access. Lipid bilayers created inside the microfluidic chip can be moved and manipulated making them interact with each other resembling cell membrane fusion.