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Image Gallery
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Using
Optical Tweezers to Stretch the Plasma Membrane of
Neuronal Growth Cones |
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Growth cones are the motile structures at
the end of axons of developing neurons. This growth cone
is from mouse cortical neuron primary culture, and demonstrates
the unusually soft plasma membrane of living neurons.
Only a few piconewtons of force is required to stretch
the plasma membrane. Forces are generated using optical
forces from a non-invasive microscopic device called
'optical tweezers', and sub-wavelength imaging is accomplished
with video-enhanced Nomarski optics (also called video-enhanced
differential interference contrast microscopy). Custom
software to perform feature-extraction and particle tracking
of video images allows us to quantify the forces required
to stretch the membrane and to estimate an effective
elastic modulus of deformation.
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Listeria Wipeout |
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