Engulfment of ellipsoidal nanoparticles by membranes: Full description of orientational changes

Abstract

We study the engulfment of ellipsoidal nanoparticles by membranes. It has been previously predicted that wrapping by the membrane can induce reorientation of the particle, however, previous studies only considered the wrapping process constrained to either side-oriented or tip-oriented particles. In contrast, we consider here the full two-dimensional energy landscape for engulfment, where the two degrees of freedom represent (i) the amount of wrapping and (ii) the particle orientation. In this way, we obtain access to the stability limits of the differently-oriented states, as well as to the energy barriers between them. We find that prolate and oblate particles undergo qualitatively different engulfment transitions, and show that the initial orientation of the particle at first contact with the membrane influences its fate.