ReviewEuropean biophysics journal : EBJ2018
Cell membrane biophysics with optical tweezers.
Review in European biophysics journal : EBJ, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 88 citations in OpenAlex.
- Spontaneous calcium transients in hair cell stereocilia.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Investigation of Viscoelastic Properties of Macrophage Membrane-Cytoskeleton Induced by Gold Nanorods in Leishmania Infection.Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- FAIR data for optical tweezers experiments.Biophysical journal · 2025Review
- Measuring the effect of repetitive stretching on the deformability of human red blood cells using optical tweezers.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Active viscoelastic models for cell and tissue mechanics.Royal Society open science · 2024Article
- A Review of Single-Cell Microrobots: Classification, Driving Methods and Applications.Micromachines · 2023Review
- Advanced Mechanical Testing Technologies at the Cellular Level: The Mechanisms and Application in Tissue Engineering.Polymers · 2023Review
- Comparison of thermal and athermal dynamics of the cell membrane slope fluctuations in the presence and absence of Latrunculin-B.Physical biology · 2023Article
- Mechanosensitive Channel-Based Optical Membrane Tension Reporter.ACS sensors · 2023Article
- Effective cell membrane tension is independent of polyacrylamide substrate stiffness.PNAS nexus · 2023Article
- Forces of Change: Optical Tweezers in Membrane Remodeling Studies.The Journal of membrane biology · 2022Review
- Optical tweezers across scales in cell biology.Trends in cell biology · 2022Review
- Quantifying Deformation and Migration Properties of U87 Glioma Cells Using Dielectrophoretic Forces.Biosensors · 2022Article
- Emerging Diamond Quantum Sensing in Bio-Membranes.Membranes · 2022Review
- Vibration, a treatment for migraine, linked to calpain driven changes in actin cytoskeleton.PloS one · 2022Article
- Ultrasound Mediated Cellular Deflection Results in Cellular Depolarization.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2022Article
- Compromised Biomechanical Properties, Cell-Cell Adhesion and Nanotubes Communication in Cardiac Fibroblasts Carrying the Lamin A/C D192G Mutation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
- Optical manipulation: advances for biophotonics in the 21st century.Journal of biomedical optics · 2021Review
- Biomechanics of Neutrophil Tethers.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Substrate Stiffness Mediates Formation of Novel Cytoskeletal Structures in Fibroblasts during Cell-Microspheres Interaction.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Membrane elastic properties play important roles in regulating cell shape, motility, division and differentiation. Here I review optical tweezer (OT) investigations of membrane surface tension and bending modulus, emphasizing didactic aspects and insights provided for cell biology. OT measurements employ membrane-attached microspheres to extract long cylindrical nanotubes named tethers. The Helfrich-Canham theory yields elastic parameters in terms of tether radius and equilibrium extraction force. It assumes initial point-like microsphere attachment and no cytoskeleton content within tethers. Experimental force-displacement curves reveal violations of those assumptions, and I discuss proposed explanations of such discrepancies, as well as recommended OT protocols. Measurements of elastic parameters for predominant cell types in the central nervous system yield correlations between their values and cell function. Micro-rheology OT experiments extend these correlations to viscoelastic parameters. The results agree with a quasi-universal phenomenological scaling law and are interpreted in terms of the soft glass rheology model. Spontaneously-generated cell nanotube protrusions are also briefly reviewed, emphasizing common features with tethers. Filopodia as well as tunneling nanotubes (TNT), which connect distant cells and allow transfers between their cytoplasms, are discussed, including OT tether pulling from TNTs which mediate communication among bacteria, even of different species. Pathogens, including bacteria, viruses and prions, opportunistically exploit TNTs for cell-to-cell transmission of infection, indicating that TNTs have an ancient evolutionary origin.
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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.