Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Mechanisms of Membrane-bending

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...

Membrane Fluidity

Membrane Fluidity

Cell membranes are composed of phospholipids, proteins, and carbohydrates loosely attached to one another through chemical interactions. Molecules are generally able to move about in the plane of the membrane, giving the membrane its flexible nature called fluidity. Two other features of the membrane contribute to membrane fluidity: the chemical structure of the phospholipids and the presence of cholesterol in the membrane.

Membrane Fluidity

Membrane Fluidity

Membrane fluidity is explained by the fluid mosaic model of the cell membrane, which describes the plasma membrane structure as a mosaic of components—including phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins, and carbohydrates—that gives the membrane a fluid character.
Mosaic nature of the membrane
The mosaic characteristic of the membrane helps the plasma membrane remain fluid. The integral proteins and lipids exist as separate but loosely-attached molecules in the membrane. The membrane is...

Polymers

Polymers

The word polymer is derived from the Greek words “poly” which means “many” and “mer” which means “parts”. Polymers are long chains of molecules composed of repeating units of smaller molecules, known as monomers. They either occur naturally, such as DNA and proteins, or can be constructed synthetically, like plastics. They have varied structural characteristics, such as linear chains, branched chains, or complex networks, that contribute to the...

Polymers

Polymers

Polymers

Polymers

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Shift from inpatient to outpatient treatment in all age groups of anterior cruciate ligament surgery in Germany: An analysis of the public healthcare system.

Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA·2026

Same author

National health registries in professional German football: development and first results from the men's and women's 1st and 2nd Bundesliga.

BMJ open sport & exercise medicine·2026

Same author

Diagnostic parameters in native joint septic arthritis and development of a new evaluation score.

Journal of bone and joint infection·2026

Same author

Pattern Formation Beyond Turing: Physical Principles of Mass-Conserving Reaction-Diffusion Systems.

Annual review of biophysics·2026

Same author

Coarsening dynamics of chemotactic aggregates.

Physical review. E·2025

Same author

Antibiotic prophylaxis in trauma and orthopedic surgery : Current practices across 36 German hospitals and comparison with recently published national guidelines.

Unfallchirurgie (Heidelberg, Germany)·2025

Same journal

Erratum: Bacterial Turbulence at Compressible Fluid Interfaces [Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 138301 (2026)].

Physical review letters·2026

Same journal

Unveiling Light-Quark Yukawa Flavor Structure via Dihadron Fragmentation at Lepton Colliders.

Physical review letters·2026

Same journal

Adaptable Route to Fast Coherent State Transport via Bang-Bang-Bang Protocols.

Physical review letters·2026

Same journal

Topological Transition and Emergence of Elasticity of Dislocation in Skyrmion Lattice: Beyond Kittel's Magnetic-Polar Analogy.

Physical review letters·2026

Same journal

Pound-Drever-Hall Method for Superconducting-Qubit Readout.

Physical review letters·2026

Same journal

Coupling a ^{73}Ge Nuclear Spin to an Electrostatically Defined Quantum Dot in Silicon.

Physical review letters·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 21, 2026

Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives

Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives

Published on: February 7, 2017

Active Curved Polymers Form Vortex Patterns on Membranes.

Jonas Denk¹, Lorenz Huber¹, Emanuel Reithmann¹

¹Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics (ASC) and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Theresienstrasse 37, D-80333 München, Germany.

Physical Review Letters

|May 14, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Active FtsZ polymers self-organize into dynamic patterns like bacterial Z rings. Simulations reveal vortex structures and rings at intermediate densities, described by a Ginzburg-Landau equation.

More Related Videos

Pulling Membrane Nanotubes from Giant Unilamellar Vesicles

Pulling Membrane Nanotubes from Giant Unilamellar Vesicles

Published on: December 7, 2017

Synthesis of Cyclic Polymers and Characterization of Their Diffusive Motion in the Melt State at the Single Molecule Level

Synthesis of Cyclic Polymers and Characterization of Their Diffusive Motion in the Melt State at the Single Molecule Level

Published on: September 26, 2016

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 21, 2026

Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives

Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives

Published on: February 7, 2017

Pulling Membrane Nanotubes from Giant Unilamellar Vesicles

Pulling Membrane Nanotubes from Giant Unilamellar Vesicles

Published on: December 7, 2017

Synthesis of Cyclic Polymers and Characterization of Their Diffusive Motion in the Melt State at the Single Molecule Level

Synthesis of Cyclic Polymers and Characterization of Their Diffusive Motion in the Melt State at the Single Molecule Level

Published on: September 26, 2016

Area of Science:

Biophysics
Polymer Physics
Cell Biology

Background:

FtsZ polymers exhibit self-organization into dynamic patterns in vitro.
These patterns can resemble the bacterial Z ring, crucial for cell division.

Purpose of the Study:

To model and understand the self-organization mechanisms of FtsZ polymers.
To identify the generic phase behavior and emergent structures of these active polymers.

Main Methods:

Brownian dynamics simulations of FtsZ polymers as active particles on chiral paths.
Application of a Boltzmann approach to analyze polymer dynamics.
Derivation of a generalized complex Ginzburg-Landau equation.

Main Results:

Demonstrated self-organization into vortex structures and closed rings at intermediate particle densities.
Identified a generic phase behavior across different modeling approaches.
Characterized the dynamics of pattern formation using a Ginzburg-Landau equation.

Conclusions:

FtsZ polymer self-organization is a generic phenomenon driven by active particle dynamics.
The study provides a theoretical framework for understanding Z ring formation and related active matter systems.
The findings offer insights into the principles governing the emergence of complex structures from simple active components.