FIGURE 3.

Quantification of Ca²⁺-induced two-dimensional aggregation of surface-attached giant liposomes composed of 100% eggPC. (A) An image processing algorithm processed the micrographs of giant liposomes after 1 h of flow of CaCl₂ to determine the “percentage of shared membrane”, which represents the average percentage of each liposome that is in contact with the visible membrane of adjacent liposomes (N = 3 for all points; error bars represent standard deviations). Images (B–E) show representative phase-contrast micrographs of two-dimensional aggregation after introducing solutions of (B) H₂O, (C) 500 μM CaCl₂, (D) 10 mM CaCl₂, and (E) 200 mM CaCl₂ to the liposomes. Note that the liposomes did not exhibit two-dimensional aggregation after introducing an intermediate concentration of 10 mM CaCl₂. Scale bars = 75 μm.