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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Probing lipid membrane bending mechanics using gold nanorod tracking

Mehdi Molaei1, Sreeja Kutti Kandy1, Zachary T. Graber3, Tobias Baumgart3, Ravi Radhakrishnan1,2, and John C. Crocker1,*

  • 1Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
  • 2Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
  • 3Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

  • *Corresponding author: jcrocker@seas.upenn.edu
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Phys. Rev. Research 4, L012027 – Published 7 March, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.L012027

Abstract

Lipid bilayer membranes undergo rapid bending undulations with wavelengths from tens of nanometers to tens of microns due to thermal fluctuations. Here, we probe such undulations and the membranes' mechanics by measuring the time-varying orientation of single gold nanorods (GNRs) adhered to the membrane, using high-speed dark field microscopy. In a lipid vesicle, such measurements allow the determination of the membrane's viscosity, bending rigidity, and tension as well as the friction coefficient for sliding of the monolayers over one another. The in-plane rotation of the GNR is hindered by undulations in a tension dependent manner, consistent with simulations. The motion of single GNRs adhered to the plasma membrane of living cultured cells similarly reveals the membrane's complex physics and coupling to the cell's actomyosin cortex.

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Phys. Rev. Research 4, L012027– Published 7 March, 2022
  • Received 24 April 2021
  • Revised 3 September 2021
  • Accepted 7 February 2022
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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