How fluid membranes transduce forces into motion
By: Laura Rodriguez Arriaga
From: Department of Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics, Condensed Matter Physics Center and Instituto Nicolás Cabrera, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid 28049, Spain
At: Building C1, room 1.4.14
[2026-06-11]
Vesicles are versatile model systems and functional compartments with broad
relevance across soft matter physics, synthetic biology and drug delivery. In this talk,
I will first discuss how microfluidic approaches overcome several limitations of
classical preparation methods, enabling the precise fabrication of vesicles with
monodisperse size and controlled composition [1]. I will then address a broader
question: how can internal forces be transmitted across a deformable boundary to
generate motion at the scale of an entire cell? Using vesicles as minimal model
systems, we study the essential ingredients required for motility. When a magnetic
particle encapsulated inside a vesicle is driven to rotate by an external field, it
generates internal flows that set the membrane into motion. Near a substrate, this
internally driven membrane dynamics is converted into directed vesicle propulsion.
Our system provides a controlled platform to investigate how internal activity,
membrane mechanics, and surface interactions combine to produce motility [2, 3].
[1] L. R. Arriaga et al. Ultrathin shell double emulsion templated giant unilamellar
lipid vesicles with controlled microdomain formation. Small 10, 950-954, 2014.
[2] P. Maginya et al. Rolling vesicles: From confined rotational flows to surface-
enabled motion. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 122, e2424236122, 2025.
[3] P. Magrinya et al. Membrane-mediated force transduction drives stick-slip motion
of lipid vesicles. Adv. Sci. 13, e17219, 2026.