ArticlePLoS computational biology2020
Non-uniform distribution of myosin-mediated forces governs red blood cell membrane curvature through tension modulation.
Article in PLoS computational biology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mechanotransduction mechanisms in human erythrocytes: Fundamental physiology and clinical significance.Channels (Austin, Tex.) · 2025Review
- Dynamin-like Proteins Combine Mechano-constriction and Membrane Remodeling to Enable Two-Step Mitochondrial Fission via a "Snap-through" Instability.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2025Article
- Dynamic mechanisms for membrane skeleton transitions.Journal of cell science · 2025Article
- Stomatocyte-discocyte-echinocyte transformations of erythrocyte modulated by membrane-cytoskeleton mechanical properties.Biophysical journal · 2025Article
- Comparing Multifunctional Viral and Eukaryotic Proteins for Generating Scission Necks in Membranes.ACS nano · 2024Article
- Exploring unconventional attributes of red blood cells and their potential applications in biomedicine.Protein & cell · 2024Article
- Dynamic mechanisms for membrane skeleton transitions.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Piezo1 Regulation Involves Lipid Domains and the Cytoskeleton and Is Favored by the Stomatocyte-Discocyte-Echinocyte Transformation.Biomolecules · 2023Article
- How Cell-Penetrating Peptides Behave Differently from Pore-Forming Peptides: Structure and Stability of Induced Transmembrane Pores.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2023Article
- Effective cell membrane tension protects red blood cells against malaria invasion.PLoS computational biology · 2023Article
- Article
- Mem3DG: Modeling membrane mechanochemical dynamics in 3D using discrete differential geometry.Biophysical reports · 2022Article
- RBC membrane biomechanics and Plasmodium falciparum invasion: probing beyond ligand-receptor interactions.Trends in parasitology · 2022Review
- Nanoscale dynamics of actin filaments in the red blood cell membrane skeleton.Molecular biology of the cell · 2022Article
- Membrane Localization of Piezo1 in the Context of Its Role in the Regulation of Red Blood Cell Volume.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- Multimodal imaging reveals membrane skeleton reorganisation during reticulocyte maturation and differences in dimple and rim regions of mature erythrocytes.Journal of structural biology: X · 2022Article
- Mechanical and Electrical Interaction of Biological Membranes with Nanoparticles and Nanostructured Surfaces.Membranes · 2021Review
- Surface model of the human red blood cell simulating changes in membrane curvature under strain.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Volumetric Semantic Instance Segmentation of the Plasma Membrane of HeLa Cells.Journal of imaging · 2021Article
- On the Role of Curved Membrane Nanodomains, and Passive and Active Skeleton Forces in the Determination of Cell Shape and Membrane Budding.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The biconcave disk shape of the mammalian red blood cell (RBC) is unique to the RBC and is vital for its circulatory function. Due to the absence of a transcellular cytoskeleton, RBC shape is determined by the membrane skeleton, a network of actin filaments cross-linked by spectrin and attached to membrane proteins. While the physical properties of a uniformly distributed actin network interacting with the lipid bilayer membrane have been assumed to control RBC shape, recent experiments reveal that RBC biconcave shape also depends on the contractile activity of nonmuscle myosin IIA (NMIIA) motor proteins. Here, we use the classical Helfrich-Canham model for the RBC membrane to test the role of heterogeneous force distributions along the membrane and mimic the contractile activity of sparsely distributed NMIIA filaments. By incorporating this additional contribution to the Helfrich-Canham energy, we find that the RBC biconcave shape depends on the ratio of forces per unit volume in the dimple and rim regions of the RBC. Experimental measurements of NMIIA densities at the dimple and rim validate our prediction that (a) membrane forces must be non-uniform along the RBC membrane and (b) the force density must be larger in the dimple than the rim to produce the observed membrane curvatures. Furthermore, we predict that RBC membrane tension and the orientation of the applied forces play important roles in regulating this force-shape landscape. Our findings of heterogeneous force distributions on the plasma membrane for RBC shape maintenance may also have implications for shape maintenance in different cell types.
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