Figure 2.

Selected characterization methods of GUVs. Fluorescence microscopy techniques can be used to visualize and quantify protein binding to a lipid vesicle in different cross sections. Preferential partitioning of fluorescently labelled molecules into different lipid phases (liquid-disordered or liquid-ordered) can be monitored. Different physical properties of membranes can be assessed by several micromanipulation techniques, e.g. micropipette aspiration (solely or in combination with optical tweezers), optical trapping of beads or entire GUVs and atomic force microscopy (as parallel plate compression or local indentation measurement. (Online version in colour.)