Elastic Properties of Pore-Spanning Apical Cell Membranes Derived from MDCK II Cells.

Stefan Nehls, Andreas Janshoff

Biophysical journal 2017 Oct 17

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The mechanical response of adherent, polarized cells to indentation is frequently attributed to the presence of an endogenous actin cortex attached to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane. Here, we scrutinized the elastic properties of apical membranes separated from living cells and attached to a porous mesh in the absence of intracellular factors originating from the cytosol, organelles, the substrate, neighbors, and the nucleus. We found that a tension-based model describes the data very well providing essentially the prestress of the shell generated by adhesion of the apical membrane patches to the pore rim and the apparent area compressibility modulus, an intrinsic elastic modulus modulated by the surface excess stored in membrane reservoirs. Removal of membrane-associated proteins by proteases decreases the area compressibility modulus, whereas fixation and cross-linking of proteins with glutaraldehyde increases it. Copyright © 2017 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Citation

Stefan Nehls, Andreas Janshoff. Elastic Properties of Pore-Spanning Apical Cell Membranes Derived from MDCK II Cells. Biophysical journal. 2017 Oct 17;113(8):1822-1830