Fig. 2.

Illustration of the depletion volume effect (not to scale). (A) Classical representation of the depletion volume effect. Larger particles in the polymer solution aggregate to reduce V_dep, in turn increasing V_free. (B) In the system consisting of the GUV containing the polymer, V_free increases when the curved area of the membrane increases, under the constraint of constant volume and surface area. Thickness of the polymer depletion volume is exaggerated to clarify the relative difference of V_free.