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Dynamics of Membrane Nanotubulation and DNA Self-Assembly

T. Roopa ^*, N. Kumar ^*, S. Bhattacharya  and G. V. Shivashankar ^* 

^* Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, India; Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, TIFR, Mumbai, India; and National Center for Biological Sciences, TIFR, Bangalore, India

Correspondence: Address reprint requests to G. V. Shivashankar, E-mail: shiva{at}ncbs.res.in.

A localized point-like force applied perpendicular to a vesicular membrane layer, using an optical tweezer, leads to membrane nanotubulation beyond a threshold force. Below the threshold, the force-extension curve shows an elastic response with a fine structure (serrations). Above the threshold the tubulation process exhibits a new reversible flow phase for the multilamellar membrane, which responds viscoelastically. Furthermore, with an oscillatory force applied during tubulation, broad but well-resolved resonances occur in the flow phase, presumably matching the time scales associated with the vesicle-nanotubule coupled system. These nanotubules, anchored to the optical tweezer also provide, for the first time, a direct probe of the real-time dynamics of DNA self-assembly on membranes. Our studies are a step in the direction of analyzing the dynamics of membrane self-assembly and artificial nanofluidic membrane networks.