The composite of the actin cytoskeleton and plasma membrane plays important roles in many biological events. Here, we employed the emulsion method to synthesize artificial cells with biomimetic actin cortex in vesicles and characterized their mechanical properties. We demonstrated that the emulsion method provides the flexibility to adjust the lipid composition and protein concentrations in artificial cells to achieve the desired size distribution, internal microstructure, and mechanical properties. Moreover, comparison of the cortical elasticity measured for reconstituted artificial cells to that of real cells, including those manipulated using genetic depletion and pharmacological inhibition, strongly supports that actin cytoskeletal proteins are dominant over lipid molecules in cortical mechanics. Our study indicates that the assembly of biological systems in artificial cells with purified cellular components provides a powerful way to answer biological questions.
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14 April 2014
Research Article|
April 17 2014
Mimicking the mechanical properties of the cell cortex by the self-assembly of an actin cortex in vesicles
Tianzhi Luo;
Tianzhi Luo
a)
1Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine,
Johns Hopkins University
, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
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Vasudha Srivastava;
Vasudha Srivastava
1Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine,
Johns Hopkins University
, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
3Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering,
Johns Hopkins University
, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
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Yixin Ren;
Yixin Ren
1Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine,
Johns Hopkins University
, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
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Douglas N. Robinson
Douglas N. Robinson
a)
1Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine,
Johns Hopkins University
, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
2Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Science, School of Medicine,
Johns Hopkins University
, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
3Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering,
Johns Hopkins University
, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
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a)
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic addresses: dnr@jhmi.edu and tzluo@jhu.edu.
Appl. Phys. Lett. 104, 153701 (2014)
Article history
Received:
October 30 2013
Accepted:
March 30 2014
Citation
Tianzhi Luo, Vasudha Srivastava, Yixin Ren, Douglas N. Robinson; Mimicking the mechanical properties of the cell cortex by the self-assembly of an actin cortex in vesicles. Appl. Phys. Lett. 14 April 2014; 104 (15): 153701. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4871861
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