Electric-field manipulation of giant vesicles: new frontiers in membrane electromechanics

Abstract Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) are a powerful model system whose response to electric fields constitutes a strategy to directly assess membrane material properties. In the last few years, the field has advanced in both conceptual scope and experimental precision. Electric-field manipulation of GUVs remains a versatile platform for extracting membrane mechanical, electrical, and rheological properties with single-vesicle resolution, while increasingly extending from a diagnostic tool into an actuation mechanism. Here, we summarize classical electrodeformation and electroporation methodologies and review recent developments that push these approaches toward greater biological realism, including compound vesicles as nucleate-cell mimics, resting-membrane-potential- and ion-dependent poration, phase-transition electromechanics, and cytoskeleton-loaded, field-responsive membranes. We also discuss how electric fields are combined with other stimuli, such as light and biochemical cues, and repurposed to drive active, motile vesicle assemblies and to fabricate tailored lipid architectures at high throughput. We further highlight theoretical work on electromechanical coupling, membrane charging dynamics, and vesicle shape landscapes under electric stress. We close by outlining remaining challenges, from reproducibility across preparation protocols to bridging model membranes and living cells, and future opportunities for automated, high-throughput, and multimodal electromechanical studies of biomimetic membranes.