Probing the effect of elevated cholesterol on the mechanical properties of membrane-cytoskeleton by optical tweezers

Arun S. Rajkumar; Ajit Muley; Suvro Chatterjee; B. M. Jaffar Ali

doi:10.1117/12.860464

2 September 2010 Probing the effect of elevated cholesterol on the mechanical properties of membrane-cytoskeleton by optical tweezers

Arun S. Rajkumar, Ajit Muley, Suvro Chatterjee, B. M. Jaffar Ali

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7762, Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation VII; 77621K (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.860464
Event: SPIE NanoScience + Engineering, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The composition of the cell membrane and the surrounding physiological factors determine the nature and dynamics of membrane-cytoskeleton coupling. Mechanical strength of a cell is mainly derived from such coupling. In this article, we investigate the effect of extra cellular cholesterol on the membrane-cytoskelaton connectivity of single cell endothelium and consequent remodeling of its mechanical properties. Using optical tweezers as a force probe, we have measured membrane stiffness (k_m), membrane microviscosity (η_eff ) and the two-dimensional shear modulus (G′(f)) as a function of extracellular cholesterol in the range of 0.1mM to 6mM. We find that membrane stiffness and shear modulus are dependent on cholesterol-induced membrane-cytoskeletal organization. Further, by disrupting the membranecytoskeletal connectivity with Cytochalasin D, an actin delpolymerizing molecule, we recover pure membrane behaviour devoid of any cytoskeleton attachment. However, behaviour of η_eff was found to be unaffected by disruption of membrane-cytoskeleton organization. We infer that cholesterol is playing a distinct role in modulating membrane organization and membrane-cytoskeleton connectivity independently. We further discuss implications of our approach in characterizing cellular mechanics.

Citation Download Citation

Arun S. Rajkumar, Ajit Muley, Suvro Chatterjee, and B. M. Jaffar Ali "Probing the effect of elevated cholesterol on the mechanical properties of membrane-cytoskeleton by optical tweezers", Proc. SPIE 7762, Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation VII, 77621K (2 September 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.860464

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