Dynamic mechanisms for membrane skeleton transitions.

ABSTRACT: The plasma membrane and the underlying skeleton form a protective barrier for eukaryotic cells. The molecular players forming this complex composite material constantly rearrange under mechanical stress. One of those molecules, spectrin, is ubiquitous in the membrane skeleton and linked by short actin filaments. In this work, we developed a generalized network model for the membrane skeleton integrating myosin contractility and membrane mechanics to investigate the response of the spectrin meshwork to mechanical loading. We observed that the force generated by membrane bending is important in maintaining a regular skeletal structure, suggesting that the membrane is not just supported by the skeleton, but actively contributes towards the stability of the cell structure. We found that spectr

SUBMITTER: Bonilla-Quintana M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11928055 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature