Thermal effect on a viscously-deformed liposome in a laser trap

By combining optical tweezers with a temperature control chamber, the viscous drag and mechanical deformation of a single liposome under flow during the phase transition of lipid bilayer is elucidated. It is found that the deformability D/sub 12/* of vesicle increases with the increase of temperature at physiological flow velocity during sample heating, and almost remains constant during sample cooling. Overall, this study provides new insights into coupling thermal and hydrodynamic effects in model membrane vesicles in physiological flow systems.