The fusion of membranes and vesicles is a very frequent process in all cells of our body. This process starts with two separate bilayer membranes, which are merged into a single one. A relatively simple way to induce this molecular reorganization is via membrane tension. [1] Recent simulation studies show that the corresponding fusion process is highly stochastic in nature and exhibits several tension-dependent energy barriers. [2] [3] [4] Optical microscopy with high temporal resolution has shown that the formation of a single fusion neck takes less than 50 microseconds. [5] Controlled fusion processes can be used to construct multi-domain vesicles [6] and to initiate the synthesis of nanoparticles in mesoscopic compartments [7]. |
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