TY - JOUR
T1 - Mechanics of microtubule-based membrane extension
AU - Fygenson, Deborah Kuchnir
AU - Marko, John F.
AU - Libchaber, Albert
PY - 1997
Y1 - 1997
N2 - We observe quasistatic deformation of lipid vesicles from within, due to the polymerization of confined microtubules. A pair of long, narrow membrane sleeves appears, sheathing the microtubule ends as they grow. Spontaneous buckling reveals that the force generated can be greater than 2 pN. The evolution of shape and magnitude of force are consistent with a simple theory for the membrane free energy. We consider a model of the force generating mechanism in which thermal fluctuations of the membrane are “rectified” by the binding of tubulin dimers to the microtubule end.
AB - We observe quasistatic deformation of lipid vesicles from within, due to the polymerization of confined microtubules. A pair of long, narrow membrane sleeves appears, sheathing the microtubule ends as they grow. Spontaneous buckling reveals that the force generated can be greater than 2 pN. The evolution of shape and magnitude of force are consistent with a simple theory for the membrane free energy. We consider a model of the force generating mechanism in which thermal fluctuations of the membrane are “rectified” by the binding of tubulin dimers to the microtubule end.
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U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.79.4497
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.79.4497
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0031372605
SN - 0031-9007
VL - 79
SP - 4497
EP - 4500
JO - Physical Review Letters
JF - Physical Review Letters
IS - 22
ER -