biostudies-literatureBonilla-Quintana MAssociazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul CancroFondazione CariploNIDA NIH HHSNIMH NIH HHSNational Institute of HealthUniversity of CaliforniaNIGMS NIH HHSNIH HHSAir Force Office of Scientific ResearchHORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie ActionsJCS263473https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11928055biostudies-literatureUnknown138(4)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 spectrJournal of cell scienceDynamic mechanisms for membrane skeleton transitions.PMC11928055R01 GM1321067965471RF1DA055668-01RF1 DA0556682021-1507R01 MH139350207101RO1GM132106FA9550-18-1-0051Ghisleni ARangamani PGauthier NCBonilla-Quintana MfalseDynamic mechanisms for membrane skeleton transitions.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 spectr2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Feb2026-07-15T11:12:15.787Z2026-07-05T03:08:30.653ZS-EPMC119280553983889910.1242/jcs.263473