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Quantitative
evaluation of mechanical properties of cell membranes: an
exact solution
Eveline Baesu, Sujatha Kalyanam and Marcelina Mocanu |
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Vol. 2 (2007), No. 6, 1193–1203
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Abstract |
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Properties of cell membranes are determined by means of a single mechanical experiment involving probing of the membrane with an atomic force microscope. The membrane is modeled as a two-dimensional medium with bending resistance whose energy has three contributions: from the strain energy of the membrane itself, from the internal pressure, and from the point load applied by the microscope. The problem is cast into a variational form and the emerging Euler–Lagrange equations are linearized and solved for the shape of the deformed cell, which can be readily compared with experimental data on the deformed shape to yield the mechanical properties of the membrane. |
Keywords
cell membrane, energy minimization, bilayer
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Milestones
Received: 12 April 2007
Accepted: 20 April 2007
Published: 1 August 2007
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Authors |
| Eveline Baesu | |
| W304 Nebraska Hall Department of Engineering Mechanics University of Nebraska Lincoln, NE 68588 United States |
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| http://www.unl.edu/emhome/faculty/baesu.html | |
| Sujatha Kalyanam | |
| W317 Nebraska Hall Department of Engineering Mechanics University of Nebraska Lincoln, NE 68588 United States |
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| Marcelina Mocanu | |
| Calea Mărăşeşti 157 Department of Mathematics University of Bacău Bacău 600115 Romania |
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