ArticleBiophysical journal2015
Front-to-rear membrane tension gradient in rapidly moving cells.
Article in Biophysical journal, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 110 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lipid Bilayer-Confined J-Aggregation Transduces Cell Membrane Mechanics into Photoacoustic Signals.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2026Article
- Caveolae mechanics in cellular functions and disease.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2026Review
- Article
- Friction-driven scission: How nonlocal mechanisms contribute to membrane fission across domains of life.Science advances · 2026Review
- Direct Observation and Measurement of Membrane Tension in Xenopus laevis Animal Cap Explants Using the Mechanosensitive Dye, Flipper-TR.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Quantitative Network Classification with CLaSSiNet Reveals Nanoscale Organizational Principles of the Membrane Skeleton.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Adherent cells sustain membrane tension gradients independently of migration.Nature communications · 2025Article
- PCP-dependent polarized mechanics in the cortex of individual cells during convergent extension.Developmental biology · 2025Article
- Intracellular pressure controls the propagation of tension in crumpled cell membranes.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Analytical methods in studying cell force sensing: principles, current technologies and perspectives.Regenerative biomaterials · 2025Review
- Cellular and Nuclear Forces: An Overview.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2025Review
- Article
- Cell Membrane Tension Gradients, Membrane Flows, and Cellular Processes.Physiology (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024Review
- The Plasma Membrane and Mechanoregulation in Cells.ACS omega · 2024Review
- PCP and Septins govern the polarized organization of the actin cytoskeleton during convergent extension.Current biology : CB · 2024Article
- Connexin 43 mediated collective cell migration is independent of Golgi orientation.Biology open · 2023Article
- Leading edge competition promotes context-dependent responses to receptor inputs to resolve directional dilemmas in neutrophil migration.Cell systems · 2023Article
- Spatial organization of lysosomal exocytosis relies on membrane tension gradients.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Effect of heterogeneous substrate adhesivity of follower cells on speed and tension profile of leader cells in primary keratocyte collective cell migration.Biology open · 2022Article
- Plant cell polarity as the nexus of tissue mechanics and morphogenesis.Nature plants · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Membrane tension is becoming recognized as an important mechanical regulator of motile cell behavior. Although membrane-tension measurements have been performed in various cell types, the tension distribution along the plasma membrane of motile cells has been largely unexplored. Here, we present an experimental study of the distribution of tension in the plasma membrane of rapidly moving fish epithelial keratocytes. We find that during steady movement the apparent membrane tension is ∼30% higher at the leading edge than at the trailing edge. Similar tension differences between the front and the rear of the cell are found in keratocyte fragments that lack a cell body. This front-to-rear tension variation likely reflects a tension gradient developed in the plasma membrane along the direction of movement due to viscous friction between the membrane and the cytoskeleton-attached protein anchors embedded in the membrane matrix. Theoretical modeling allows us to estimate the area density of these membrane anchors. Overall, our results indicate that even though membrane tension equilibrates rapidly and mechanically couples local boundary dynamics over cellular scales, steady-state variations in tension can exist in the plasma membranes of moving cells.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.