Journal article icon

Journal article

Mechanical properties of plasma membrane vesicles correlate with lipid order, viscosity and cell density

Abstract:
Regulation of plasma membrane curvature and composition governs essential cellular processes. The material property of bending rigidity describes the energetic cost of membrane deformations and depends on the plasma membrane molecular composition. Because of compositional fluctuations and active processes, it is challenging to measure it in intact cells. Here, we study the plasma membrane using giant plasma membrane vesicles (GPMVs), which largely preserve the plasma membrane lipidome and proteome. We show that the bending rigidity of plasma membranes under varied conditions is correlated to readout from environment-sensitive dyes, which are indicative of membrane order and microviscosity. This correlation holds across different cell lines, upon cholesterol depletion or enrichment of the plasma membrane, and variations in cell density. Thus, polarity- and viscosity-sensitive probes represent a promising indicator of membrane mechanical properties. Additionally, our results allow for identifying synthetic membranes with a few well defined lipids as optimal plasma membrane mimetics.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

Actions


Access Document


Files:
Publisher copy:
10.1038/s42003-019-0583-3

Authors


More by this author
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0003-4226-7945
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
Medical Sciences Division
Department:
RDM
Sub department:
RDM - Investigative Medicine Division
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-4915-388X
More by this author
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0003-3603-6585
More by this author
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-3872-8502


Publisher:
Nature Research
Journal:
Communications Biology More from this journal
Volume:
2
Issue:
1
Article number:
337
Publication date:
2019-09-13
Acceptance date:
2019-08-15
DOI:
EISSN:
2399-3642
Pmid:
31531398


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
pubs:1054697
UUID:
uuid:57fc70a9-46f9-4209-a95c-d42e88e8ef51
Local pid:
pubs:1054697
Source identifiers:
1054697
Deposit date:
2019-11-08

Terms of use



Views and Downloads






If you are the owner of this record, you can report an update to it here: Report update to this record

TO TOP