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Cited by 87Lipid Membrane Structure and BehaviorCellular Mechanics and InteractionsForce Microscopy Techniques and Applications

Effects of cholesterol on nano-mechanical properties of the living cell plasma membrane

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Khatibzadeh, Nima, Gupta, Sharad, Farrell, Brenda, Brownell, William E., Anvari, Bahman·2012·Soft Matter
DOI 10.1039/c2sm25263ePMC PMC3515074
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Abstract

In this study, we investigated the effects of membrane cholesterol content on the mechanical properties of cell membranes by using optical tweezers. We pulled membrane tethers from human embryonic kidney cells using single and multi-speed protocols, and obtained time-resolved tether forces. We quantified various mechanical characteristics including the tether equilibrium force, bending modulus, effective membrane viscosity, and plasma membrane-cytoskeleton adhesion energy, and correlated them to the membrane cholesterol level. Decreases in cholesterol concentration were associated with increases in the tether equilibrium force, tether stiffness, and adhesion energy. Tether diameter and effective viscosity increased with increasing cholesterol levels. Disruption of cytoskeletal F-actin significantly changed the tether diameters in both non-cholesterol and cholesterol-manipulated cells, while the effective membrane viscosity was unaffected by F-actin disruption. The findings are relevant to inner ear function where cochlear amplification is altered by changes in membrane cholesterol content.

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  • Alternative perturbations such as mechanical stretching, RhoA-ROCK activation, or modification of lipid composition can induce significant disruption ranging from membrane-cytoskeleton decoupling, contractility-induced retraction to altered lipid composition and gene expression.

    “Alternative perturbations such as mechanical stretching73, RhoA-ROCK activation74–76, or the modification of lipid composition77 can induce significant disruption ranging from membrane-cytoskeleton decoupling, contractility-induced retraction to altered lipid composition and gene expression.”

    From Ghost Neuron preparation unlocks high-resolution structural mapping of intracellular architecture in axons (2026) · cites this paper as [77]

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Authors
Khatibzadeh, N., Gupta, S., Farrell, B., Brownell, W. E., & Anvari, B.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Riverside (US)
  • Baylor College of Medicine (US)
Corresponding author
Anvari, Bahman
ORCID
Venue
Soft Matter
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Published
2012
Volume
8
Issue
32
Pages
8350
ISSN
  • 1744-683X (ISSN-L)
  • 1744-6848
DOI
10.1039/c2sm25263e
PMC
PMC3515074
OpenAlex
W1996436502
Cited by
87
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 1
FWCI
2.89
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Soft Matter (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (R01DC002775)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Cellular Mechanics and Interactions
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications
Keywords
membrane cholesterol, plasma membrane mechanics, membrane bending modulus, membrane viscosity, tether force, F-actin, human embryonic kidney cells, cochlear amplification, inner ear

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