Stability of giant phospholipid vesicles at different concentrations of C/sub 12/E/sub 8/

Membrane properties of giant POPC phospholipids vesicles have been studied in the past. It has been observed that addition of the C/sub 12/E/sub 8/ surfactant may increase the speed of membrane transformation, induce the formation of vesicle protrusions and reduce the lifespan of the POPC vesicles. In this paper we studied the influence of different concentrations of the C/sub 12/E/sub 8/ surfactant on the stability of the giant phospholipids vesicles and the speed of their disintegration. We have observed that at low concentrations of C/sub 12/E/sub 8/ the vesicles eventually adopt a stable shape with the daughter endovesicle and may remain in such state unchanged for at least two hours. At higher concentrations of C/sub 12/E/sub 8/ the vesicles gradually begin to shrink and disintegrate altogether within an hour after addition of the surfactant. We propose possible molecular mechanisms underlying the reported phenomena.