DEPENDENCE OF ENDOCYTOSIS CAUSED BY DEPLETION EFFECTS ON THE ASPECT RATIO OF COLLOIDAL PARTICLE
In colloidal suspensions containing large and small particles, a peculiar attractive force caused by entropy appears, this force can cause aggregation of large particles. With the concentration of small particles increasing, the large particles can be endocytosed by vesicle. A continuum model is developed to investigate the equilibrium mechanics between a biomembrane and an enveloped colloidal particle with different aspect ratios. The results show that the endocytosis of colloidal particle depends on the aspect ratio of colloidal particle. For a spherical colloidal particle (aspect ratio is zero), the entropy provides sufficient favorable energy to drive its engulfment; however, at a high aspect ratio, the entropy is not sufficient to overcome the resistance from the biomembrane and causes endocytosis.