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Adhesion of Soft Biological Shells controlled by Bending Elasticity and Macromolecular Networks

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Abstract

We present an interferometrie technique allowing reliable measurements of bending modulus κ, membrane tension ∑ and adhesion energy W of cells crawling on substrates. All three parameters are important for cell locomotion and reflect the local balance of attractive and repulsive forces between cell and substratum as well as the internal coupling of cell membrane and the underlying cytoskeleton. Mutants of the Dictyostelium ameba lacking an important cytoskeletal protein, Cortexillin, exhibited a markedly reduced bending modulus and adhesion energy as compared to wild type Dictyostelium. In addition, experiments with model membrane systems suggest that the combination of attractive and repulsive forces results in a local clustering of receptors mediating cell adhesion.

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Acknowledgement

The authors thank Prof. Robin Bruinsma for helpful discussion. We are also grateful to Dr. Jan Faix and Prof. GLnther Gehrisch at the MPI Martinsried for providing the Dictyostelium cell lines.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physik Department E22, Technische Universität München, James Franck Strasse, 85748, Garching, Germany

    R. Simson, A. Albersdörfer & E. Sackmann

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  1. R. Simson
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  2. A. Albersdörfer
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  3. E. Sackmann
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Correspondence to E. Sackmann.

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Simson, R., Albersdörfer, A. & Sackmann, E. Adhesion of Soft Biological Shells controlled by Bending Elasticity and Macromolecular Networks. MRS Online Proceedings Library 463, 3–13 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-463-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-463-3

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