Home › Cell Biology › Preparation of Giant Vesicles Encapsulating Microspheres by Centrifugation of a Water-in-oil Emulsion
Cell Biology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Preparation of Giant Vesicles Encapsulating Microspheres by Centrifugation of a Water-in-oil Emulsion

DOI: 10.3791/55282-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Prepare giant vesicles using water-in-oil emulsion centrifugation
  • ✓ Encapsulate micrometer-sized materials within giant vesicles
  • ✓ Observe and characterize prepared giant vesicles by microscopy
Protocol

Giant vesicles containing highly packed micrometer-sized components are useful cell models. The water-in-oil emulsion centrifugation method is a simple, powerful tool for the preparation of giant vesicles with encapsulated materials.

Difficulty
intermediate
Total time
~2–3 hours per batch

Steps

1
Prepare giant vesicles by water-in-oil emulsion centrifugation

Create a water-in-oil emulsion containing microspheres and lipids, then centrifuge to form giant vesicles with encapsulated materials. This method leverages differential density to spontaneously assemble vesicle structures.

▶ 00:25
2
Observe giant vesicles using microscopy techniques

Mount prepared giant vesicles on a microscope slide and acquire brightfield or fluorescence images to visualize morphology and confirm successful encapsulation of microspheres.

▶ 03:06
3
Analyze results of giant vesicle preparation

Review microscopy data to assess yield, size distribution, and encapsulation efficiency of giant vesicles prepared by the water-in-oil emulsion method.

▶ 03:56
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