ABSTRACT
In living cells, lipid membranes interact with polymers such as the polysaccharides of the glycocalyx or the cytoskeletal biopolymers. In this chapter, we show that giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) are suitable model systems to decipher the different mechanisms by which polymers modify membrane structure at different scales and affect GUVs shape and behaviour. We present detailed studies on composite systems made of GUVs interacting with the thermoresponsive polymer polyNIPAM or the polyelectrolytes chitosan and hyaluronan. We show how polymer/membrane interactions affect the behaviour of these systems under various external stresses. Finally, we present future directions for the study of such composite polymer/GUVs systems.
