Figure 5.

Computer simulation of the translocation of nanoparticles with different shapes across a lipid bilayer (a), an ellipsoid particle is schematically illustrated. (b) The minimum driving forces needed to pass the ellipsoid particles of different volumes through the lipid bilayer. The shape anisotropy of the nanoparticles is adjusted by changing the aspect ratio (L_a/L_c) at fixed L_b and volume. r_c is the force range. (c,d) Snapshots of computer-simulation of the translocation of the particle with vertical (c) and horizontal (d) initial orientations. L_a = 1.6 nm, L_b = 3.2 nm and L_c = 6.4 nm (c); L_a = 6.4 nm, L_b = 3.2 nm and L_c = 1.6 nm (d). Blue, ellipsoid; red, lipid heads; yellow, lipid tails. Figure is adapted from [214] with permission.