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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.

Listeria Wipeout
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