Centre for Mechanochemical Cell Biology and Division of Biomedical Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
Methods Mol Biol. 2020;2169:167-174. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0732-9_15.
Here, we describe how to extract tethers or lipid membrane nanotubes from the plasma membrane of cells using optical tweezers. This technique allows measuring the force required to hold the membrane tether at a constant length, which is related to the cell membrane tension. Following the evolution of this force during mechanical or chemical perturbations of the cell gives insight about the regulation of cell membrane tension. By pulling very long membrane tethers, one can also probe the membrane reservoir of a cell and a sudden rise in the tether force is usually due to the depletion of excess membranes stored in membrane folds or invaginations.
在这里，我们描述了如何使用光学镊子从细胞膜中提取系绳或脂质膜纳米管。该技术可用于测量保持膜系绳在恒定长度所需的力，该力与细胞膜张力有关。在对细胞进行机械或化学扰动时，观察该力的变化可以深入了解细胞膜张力的调节机制。通过拉动非常长的膜系绳，还可以探测细胞的膜储备库，当系绳力突然上升时，通常是由于膜褶皱或内陷中储存的多余膜被耗尽。
