Injection and Transport of Bacteria in Nanotube-Vesicle Network

Journal article, 2008

Microinjection of bacteria (the MG1655 strain of E. coli.) into unilamellar lipid vesicles contained in surface-immobilized nanotube-vesicle networks is demonstrated. Injected baceria can not escape from one vesicle to another as the size of interconnecting nanotubes is too small (~200 nm in diameter) to allow for entry. Bacteria can, however, be moved from one vesicle to another by using Marangoni flows. Thus, single or several species can be transferred to a neighboring vesicle at will. The technique offers new possibilities for live matter functionalization into synthetic host networks, and may provide a means of studying the effect of compartmentalization and chemical species on a single bacterium. Thus, it may serve as an experimental platform to study how vesicle-encapsulated bacteria evade destruction in macrophages or how bacteria surf along thin membrane nanotubes toward connected macrophage cell bodies