Amoeboid swimming of active vesicles

We investigate the shape dynamics and migration of weakly deflated active vesicles driven by processes acting either directly in the membrane or transmitted by the cytoskeleton.

For a force-free vesicle, local membrane incompressibility suppresses rigid-body translation, so that migration arises from time-dependent shape deformations.

Assuming small excess area enables a systematic analysis of the coupled deformation and migration dynamics in free space, i.e. in the absence of substrate adhesion or confinement.

Depending on the strength and frequency of the activity, the vesicle exhibits several dynamical regimes, including synchronized oscillations, quasiperiodic shape changes, transitions between non-propelling and propelling states, and intermittent motion.