Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Mechanisms of Membrane-bending01:15

Mechanisms of Membrane-bending

3.5K
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...
3.5K
Members Made of Elastoplastic Material01:19

Members Made of Elastoplastic Material

428
The behavior of elastoplastic materials under bending stresses, particularly in structural members with rectangular cross-sections, is crucial for predicting material responses and understanding failure modes. Initially, when a bending moment is applied, the stress distribution across the section follows Hooke's Law and is linear and elastic. This distribution means the stress increases from the neutral axis to the maximum at the outer fibers, up to the elastic limit.
As the bending moment...
428
Asymmetric Lipid Bilayer01:35

Asymmetric Lipid Bilayer

10.2K
Biological membranes show uneven distribution of different types of lipids in the inner and outer layers, resulting in transverse asymmetric membranes. The treatment of the erythrocyte membrane with the enzyme phospholipase confirmed the asymmetric nature of the lipid bilayer. The enzyme hydrolyzes lipids into fatty acids and hydrophilic groups. The phospholipase acts only on the outer layer of the membrane, while the inner layer remains intact. The phospholipase treatment resulted in 80%...
10.2K
Assembly of the Lipid Bilayer in the ER01:28

Assembly of the Lipid Bilayer in the ER

4.3K
Biological membranes are more than just a barrier separating cell cytoplasm from the outside environment. They are highly dynamic and help maintain the integrity and physiological stability of the cells as well as membrane-bound organelles. Membranes also play vital roles in cell-to-cell and intracellular communication.
A large chunk of any biological membrane is composed of phospholipids. These lipids have a heterogeneous distribution across different subcellular organelles and even between...
4.3K
Mechanism of Lamellipodia Formation01:31

Mechanism of Lamellipodia Formation

3.8K
Cells migrating in response to external stimuli form lamellipodia, which are thin membrane protrusions supported by a mesh of linked, branched, or unbranched actin filaments. These actin filaments interact with myosin motor proteins, creating the dynamic actomyosin complex within the cytoskeleton. Contractility, or the ability to generate contractile stress, is inherent to the actomyosin complex. It helps cells detect the stiffness of the surrounding ECM and exert contractile force for...
3.8K

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Collapsible scissored surfaces.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Reversible superdeformability of hiPSC epithelial cortinoids.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Delamination and out-of-plane deformation in drying colloidal suspensions.

Soft matter·2026
Same author

Rotational 3D printing of active-passive filaments and lattices with programmable shape morphing.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Surface Wakes on Ultrasoft Solids.

Physical review letters·2026
Same author

Postural control in an upright snake.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·2026
Same journal

Tau protein as a regulator of mitochondrial function and dynamics.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

A scalable, dividing cell model for the robust propagation and quantification of human sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease prions.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Epigenetic regulation of mesenchymal BMP signaling directs postnatal organ innervation.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Single-shot wide-field biochemical imaging at 1 kHz frame rate.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Morphogenesis and topological evolution of a frustrated nematic liquid crystal under confinement.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

B cell-intrinsic CXCR3 drives efficient generation of ectopic pulmonary germinal center responses to influenza A virus infection.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 20, 2026

Pulling Membrane Nanotubes from Giant Unilamellar Vesicles
06:26

Pulling Membrane Nanotubes from Giant Unilamellar Vesicles

Published on: December 7, 2017

11.6K

Growth patterns for shape-shifting elastic bilayers.

Wim M van Rees1, Etienne Vouga2, L Mahadevan3,4,5,6,7

  • 1John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|October 29, 2017
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Scientists developed a method to control the growth of artificial tissues into desired shapes. This geometric inverse problem solution uses elastic energy minimization for precise shape-shifting in active materials.

Keywords:
4D printingformgrowthinverse physical geometrymorphogenesis

More Related Videos

Single Molecule Methods for Monitoring Changes in Bilayer Elastic Properties
12:20

Single Molecule Methods for Monitoring Changes in Bilayer Elastic Properties

Published on: November 3, 2008

9.7K
Reconstitution of Septin Assembly at Membranes to Study Biophysical Properties and Functions
06:32

Reconstitution of Septin Assembly at Membranes to Study Biophysical Properties and Functions

Published on: July 28, 2022

2.7K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 20, 2026

Pulling Membrane Nanotubes from Giant Unilamellar Vesicles
06:26

Pulling Membrane Nanotubes from Giant Unilamellar Vesicles

Published on: December 7, 2017

11.6K
Single Molecule Methods for Monitoring Changes in Bilayer Elastic Properties
12:20

Single Molecule Methods for Monitoring Changes in Bilayer Elastic Properties

Published on: November 3, 2008

9.7K
Reconstitution of Septin Assembly at Membranes to Study Biophysical Properties and Functions
06:32

Reconstitution of Septin Assembly at Membranes to Study Biophysical Properties and Functions

Published on: July 28, 2022

2.7K

Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Inspired by natural morphogenesis (e.g., leaf and flower development).
  • Active materials that change shape in response to stimuli (heat, light, humidity) are of growing interest for artificial tissues.
  • A key challenge is determining the necessary growth patterns to achieve a target shape.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To solve the geometric inverse problem of determining growth patterns (metric tensors) for isotropic elastic bilayers to achieve a target shape.
  • To provide a mathematical framework for designing self-shaping active materials.

Main Methods:

  • Formulating and solving an elastic energy minimization problem.
  • Utilizing a mathematical equivalence between bilayers and curved monolayers.
  • Deriving algebraic expressions for growth metric tensors.

Main Results:

  • A method to determine the precise growth factors and directions for a bilayer to reach a target shape.
  • Proof that any target surface can be achieved from any reference surface using orthotropically growing bilayers.
  • Successful numerical simulations of growing a flat sheet into a face, a cylinder into a flower, and a flat sheet into a canyon-like structure.

Conclusions:

  • The developed method provides a powerful tool for designing and fabricating complex 3D shapes from flat or simple precursors using active materials.
  • This work bridges the gap between natural morphogenesis and artificial material design, enabling new applications in soft robotics and tissue engineering.