title: Optical measurement of cell membrane tension.
abstract: Using a novel noncontact technique based on optical interferometry, we quantify the nanoscale thermal fluctuations of red blood cells (RBCs) and giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). The measurements reveal a nonvanishing tension coefficient for RBCs, which increases as cells transition from a discocytic shape to a spherical shape. The tension coefficient measured for GUVs is, however, a factor of 4-24 smaller. By contrast, the bending moduli for cells and vesicles have similar values. This is consistent with the cytoskeleton confinement model, in which the cytoskeleton inhibits membrane fluctuations [Gov et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 228101, (2003).
authors.affiliation: George R. Harrison Spectroscopy Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Popescu
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Goda
authors.forename: Catherine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Best-Popescu
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laposata
authors.forename: Suliana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Manley
authors.forename: Ramachandra R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Dasari
authors.forename: Kamran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Badizadegan
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Feld
mesh_terms: D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D048430:Cell Shape; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology; D004907:Erythrocyte Deformability; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008081:Liposomes; D008857:Microscopy, Interference; D036103:Nanotechnology; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D013102:Spherocytes / Q000502:physiology; D013500:Surface Tension
chemical_list: D008081:Liposomes