Fig. 7.

Stages of NP insertion into a membrane following protrusion contact. The first protruding membrane lipid (left panel), the NP ligands [MUS:OT (1:1) on a 2-nm NP] and other membrane lipids that are successively (center and right panels) recruited in forming the hydrophobic contact are highlighted in each image. Lipid tails involved in the hydrophobic contact are depicted as white spheres, phosphate groups are in yellow, and choline groups in blue. MUS molecules contacting the bilayer are shown as green (corresponding to CH₂ groups), yellow (sulfur atoms), and red (oxygen atoms) spheres, while OT molecules are presented as pink chains. Lipids and ligands not presently involved in the insertion process appear dark. [Adapted with permission from (Van Lehn and Alexander-Katz 2015). Copyright (2015) Royal Society of Chemistry]