Unbinding of adhesive vesicles

Abstract

We consider a vesicle, bound on one side to a pipette and sticking on the other side to a flat plate. When a pulling force f is applied to the pipette, the radius R c of the contact patch decreases, and jumps to zero at a critical value of the force. We present here an extension of the Evans theory for these processes. Then we discuss the dynamics of separation for two distinct cases: (a) nonspecific adhesion; and (b) specific adhesion induced by mobile proteins.