Wrapping of nanoparticles by membranes
Résumé
How nanoparticles interact with biomembranes is central for understanding their bioactivity. Biomembranes
wrap around nanoparticles if the adhesive interaction between the nanoparticles and membranes is sufficiently
strong to compensate for the cost of membrane bending. In this article, we review recent results from theory and
simulations that provide new insights on the interplay of bending and adhesion energies during the wrapping of
nanoparticles by membranes. These results indicate that the interplay of bending and adhesion during wrapping
is strongly affected by the interaction range of the particle–membrane adhesion potential, by the shape of the
nanoparticles, and by shape changes of membrane vesicles during wrapping. The interaction range of the
particle–membrane adhesion potential is crucial both for the wrapping process of single nanoparticles and the
cooperative wrapping of nanoparticles by membrane tubules.