Unbinding of adhesive vesicles

We consider a vesicle, bound on one side to a pipette and sticking on the other side to a flat plate. When a pulling force f is applied to the pipette, the radius Rc of the contact patch decreases, and jumps to zero at a critical value of the force. We present here an extension of the Evans theory for these processes. Then we discuss the dynamics of separation for two distinct cases: (a) nonspecific adhesion; and (b) specific adhesion induced by mobile proteins. To cite this article: F. Brochard-Wyart, P.-G. de Gennes, C. R. Physique 4 (2003).