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B Zeks

Publications and source records attributed to B Zeks.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Vesicle deformation by an axial load: from elongated shapes to tethered vesicles.

A sufficiently large force acting on a single point of the fluid membrane of a flaccid phospholipid vesicle is known to cause the formation of a narrow bilayer tube (tether). We analyze this phenomenon by means of general mathematical methods allowing us to determine the shapes of strongly deformed vesicles including their stability. Starting from a free vesicle with an axisymmetric, prolate equilibrium shape, we consider an axial load that pulls (or pushes) the poles of the vesicle apart. Arranging the resulting shapes of strained vesicles in dependence of the axial deformation and of the area difference of monolayers, phase diagrams of stable shapes are presented comprising prolate shapes with or without equatorial mirror symmetry. For realistic values of membrane parameters, we study the force-extension relation of strained vesicles, and we demonstrate in detail how the initially elongated shape of an axially stretched vesicle transforms into a shape involving a membrane tether. This tethering transition may be continuous or discontinuous. If the free vesicle is mirror symmetric, the mirror symmetry is broken as the tether forms. The stability analysis of tethered shapes reveals that, for the considered vesicles, the stable shape is always asymmetric (polar), i.e., it involves only a single tether on one side of the main vesicle body. Although a bilayer tube formed from a closed vesicle is not an ideal cylinder, we show that, for most practical purposes, it is safe to assume a cylindrical geometry of tethers. This analysis is supplemented by the documentation of a prototype experiment supporting our theoretical predictions. It shows that the currently accepted model for the description of lipid-bilayer elasticity (generalized bilayer couple model) properly accounts for the tethering phenomenon.

Biophysical Phenomena↗
PubMed1998

Theoretical analysis of the effect of the transbilayer movement of phospholipid molecules on the dynamic behavior of a microtube pulled out of an aspirated vesicle.

Observations over extended times of a lipid microtube (tether) formed from a lecithin vesicle have shown that under constant external loads the tether exhibits a continuous slow growth. It is considered that this growth is a consequence of the net transbilayer movement of phospholipid molecules in a direction which relieves the membrane strain resulting from the elastic deformation of the vesicle. The elastic deformation mode responsible for this effect is identified as the relative expansion of the two membrane layers reflecting the non-local contribution to membrane bending. An equation for the consequent rate of transbilayer movement of phospholipid molecules is derived. The dynamic behavior of the system is modeled by including frictional contributions due to interlayer slip and Stokes drag on the glass bead used to form the tether. The general numerical solution reveals a complex dependence of the tether growth rate on the system parameters and a continuous increase in the rate of tether growth at long times. Closed form expressions approximating the system behavior are derived and the conditions under which they can be applied are specified. Modeling the mechanically-driven lipid transport as a simple, stochastic, thermal process, allows the rate of lipid translocation to be related to the equilibrium transbilayer exchange rate of phospholipid molecules. Consideration of experimental results shows that the time constant for mechanically-driven translocation is shorter than the time for diffusion-driven translocation by approximately two orders of magnitude, indicating that lipid translocation is not a simple diffusive process.

Cell Membrane↗
PubMed1996

Shapes of bilayer vesicles with membrane embedded molecules.

The interdependence of the lateral distribution of molecules which are embedded in a membrane (such as integral membrane proteins) and the shape of a cell with no internal structure (such as phospholipid vesicles or mammalian erythrocytes) has been studied. The coupling of the lateral distribution of the molecules and the cell shape is introduced by considering that the energy of the membrane embedded molecule at a given site of the membrane depends on the curvature of the membrane at that site. Direct interactions between embedded molecules are not considered. A simple expression for the interaction of the membrane embedded molecule with the local membrane curvature is proposed. Starting from this interaction, the consistently related expressions for the free energy and for the distribution function of the embedded molecules are derived. The equilibrium cell shape and the corresponding lateral distribution of the membrane embedded molecules are determined by minimization of the membrane free energy which includes the free energy of the membrane embedded molecules and the membrane elastic energy. The resulting inhomogeneous distribution of the membrane embedded molecules affects the cell shape in a nontrivial manner. In particular, it is shown that the shape corresponding to the absolute energy minimum at given cell volume and membrane area may be elliptically non-axisymmetric, in contrast to the case of a laterally homogeneous membrane where it is axisymmetric.

Chemical Phenomena↗
PubMed1996

Low pH induced shape changes and vesiculation of human erythrocytes.

Shape changes and vesiculation were induced in intact human erythrocytes by gradually decreasing pH in the cell suspension. A sequence of different shapes preceding vesiculation was documented, i.e. discocytes, stomatocytes, and stomatoacantocytes. The final state was characterized by spherical mother cells and vesicles released. Low pH-induced vesiculation was also studied in the presence of stomatocytogenic or echinocytogenic compounds. The action of stomatocytogenic compounds was inhibitory, and echinocytogenic compounds had no effect on low pH-induced vesiculation. Vesiculation induced by low pH was studied also in isotonic solutions of different sucrose/salt composition. It was concluded that (i) low intracellular pH is responsible for cell shape transformations as well as for release of vesicles, (ii) at temperature 37 degrees C the intracellular pH value which induces the release of vesicles is 5.4, and (iii) the sequence of typical shape changes preceding vesiculation does not include echinocytes. The results are discussed on the basis of the layered membrane model of the shape formation and shape transformations of the human erythrocyte, and additionally considering the partial detachment of the membrane skeleton from the bilayer part of the membrane.

Erythrocyte Membrane↗
PubMed1995

Depletion of membrane skeleton in red blood cell vesicles.

A possible physical interpretation of the partial detachment of the membrane skeleton in the budding region of the cell membrane and consequent depletion of the membrane skeleton in red blood cell vesicles is given. The red blood cell membrane is considered to consist of the bilayer part and the membrane skeleton. The skeleton is, under normal conditions, bound to the bilayer over its whole area. It is shown that, when in such conditions it is in the expanded state, some cell shape changes can induce its partial detachment. The partial detachment of the skeleton from the bilayer is energetically favorable if the consequent decrease of the skeleton expansion energy is larger than the corresponding increase of the bilayer-skeleton binding energy. The effect of shape on the skeleton detachment is analyzed theoretically for a series of the pear class shapes, having decreasing neck diameter and ending with a parent-daughter pair of spheres. The partial detachment of the skeleton is promoted by narrowing of the cell neck, by increasing the lateral tension in the skeleton and its area expansivity modulus, and by diminishing the attraction forces between the skeleton and the bilayer. If the radius of the daughter vesicle is sufficiently small relative to the radius of the parent cell, the daughter vesicle can exist either completely underlaid with the skeleton or completely depleted of the skeleton.

Erythrocyte Membrane↗
PubMed1993

The existence of non-axisymmetric bilayer vesicle shapes predicted by the bilayer couple model.

The existence of non-axisymmetric shapes with minimal bending energy is proved by means of a mathematical model. A parametric model is used; the shapes considered have an elliptical top view whilst their front view contour is described using Cassini ovals. Taking into account the bilayer couple model, the minimization of the membrane bending energy is performed at a constant membrane area A, a constant enclosed volume V and a constant difference between the two membrane leaflet areas delta A. It is shown that for certain sets of A, V and delta A the non-axisymmetric shapes calculated with the use of the parametric model have lower energy than the corresponding axisymmetric shapes obtained by the exact solution of the general variational problem. As an exact solution of the general variational problem for non-axisymmetric shapes would yield even lower energy, this indicates the existence of non-axisymmetric shapes with minimal bending energy in a region of the V/delta A phase diagram.

Lipid Bilayers↗