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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 85 » Issue 2
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 457–460 (2000)

Microrheology of Biopolymer-Membrane Complexes

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E. Helfer1, S. Harlepp1, L. Bourdieu1,*, J. Robert1, F. C. MacKintosh2, and D. Chatenay1
1Laboratoire de Dynamique des Fluides Complexes, U.M.R. C.N.R.S. 7506, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France
2Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1120

Received 7 December 1999; published in the issue dated 10 July 2000

We create tailored microstructures, consisting of complexes of lipid membranes with self-assembled biopolymer shells, to study the fundamental properties and interactions of these basic components of living cells. We measure the mechanical response of these artificial structures at the micrometer scale, using optical tweezers and single-particle tracking. These systems exhibit rich dynamics that illustrate the viscoelastic character of the quasi-two-dimensional biopolymer network. We present a theoretical model relating the rheological properties of these membranes to the observed dynamics.

© 2000 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.457
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.457
PACS:
87.19.Tt, 68.10.Et, 82.65.-i, 87.80.-y

*To whom correspondence should be addressed.

 
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