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Related Concept Videos

Mechanisms of Membrane-bending01:15

Mechanisms of Membrane-bending

The living membranes are flexible due to their fluid mosaic nature; however, their bending into different shapes is an active process regulated by specific lipids and proteins. The membrane bending can be transient as seen in vesicles or stable for a long time as in microvilli. Cells regulate the size, location, and duration of the membrane curvature.
Membrane bending can happen due to intrinsic changes in lipid composition or extrinsic association with different proteins. The proteins involved...
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The fluid mosaic model was first proposed as a visual representation of research observations. The model comprises the composition and dynamics of membranes and serves as a foundation for future membrane-related studies. The model depicts the structure of the plasma membrane with a variety of components, which include phospholipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. These integral molecules are loosely bound, defining the cell’s border and providing fluidity for optimal function.
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Electrostatic Boundary Conditions in Dielectrics

When an electric field passes from one homogeneous medium to another, crossing the boundary between the two mediums imparts a discontinuity in the electric field. This results in electrostatic boundary conditions that depend on the type of mediums the field propagates through.
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Membrane Fluidity

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Characterizing Dissipative Elastic Metamaterials Produced by Additive Manufacturing
09:39

Characterizing Dissipative Elastic Metamaterials Produced by Additive Manufacturing

Published on: June 28, 2024

Modeling electrically active viscoelastic membranes.

Sitikantha Roy1, William E Brownell, Alexander A Spector

  • 1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.

Plos One
|June 16, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

A new model explains how the cochlear outer hair cell protein prestin generates force for hearing. This model reveals how prestin

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Area of Science:

  • Bioengineering
  • Biophysics
  • Cellular Biophysics

Background:

  • The cochlear outer hair cell (OHC) utilizes the membrane protein prestin for amplification and frequency selectivity.
  • Prestin mediates OHC dimensional changes, force generation, and electric charge transfer, crucial for hearing.
  • Transfected cells expressing prestin mimic native OHC active properties, aiding research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a thermodynamic model of prestin-based active membranes.
  • To elucidate the electromechanical mechanisms underlying OHC force generation.
  • To analyze the frequency-dependent active force produced by OHCs.

Main Methods:

  • Derivation of an integral model from thermodynamic principles relating voltage, membrane resultants, charge density, and strains.
  • Application of the model to analyze active force in OHCs under harmonic electric fields.
  • Computation of electric charge response to mechanical perturbations (step-wise or rate-controlled pressure/strains).

Main Results:

  • The model describes key electromechanical features of active membranes.
  • Analysis revealed a mechanism for near-constant amplitude and phase active force up to 80 kHz.
  • Frequency-invariance results from an interplay between prestin's electrical filtering and membrane viscoelasticity, with viscoelasticity paradoxically boosting force.

Conclusions:

  • The study provides a model for understanding prestin-mediated electromechanical coupling in OHCs.
  • Membrane viscoelasticity plays a crucial, counterintuitive role in force generation.
  • Findings are vital for analyzing biological electromechanical properties and understanding hearing mechanisms.