Author/Editor		Svetina, S; Božič, B; Heinrich, V; Žekš, B
Title		Mechanical properties of membranes and cell polarity
Type		članek
Source		In: Matsson L, editor. Proceedings of the Adriatico research conference nonlinear cooperative phenomena in biological systems; 1997 Aug 19-22; Trieste. Singapur: World scientific publishing,
Publication year		1998
Volume		str. 227-41
Language		eng
Abstract		Cell polarity is characterized by a nonuniform distribution of cell constituents along a polar axis. A mechanism for the acquisition of cell polarity is proposed based on the property of closcd layered membranes that under certain conditions their mechanical energy is the lowcst when they havc polar morphology. Then, due to the curvature dependent interactions between membrane constituents, the distri- bution of membrane embedded molecules and poesibly of other cell constituents is consequently also polar. The conditions for the attainment of polar cell shapes are presented for the cases of freely suspended cells and of axially strained cells. As an example it is shown that the predictions of the Lheory on the effects oI axial force are in agreement with the observed effect of microtubules in establishing the polar shapes of cultured photoreceptor cells.
Descriptors		CELL SIZE MEMBRANE POTENTIALS CELL DIVISION ELASTICITY LIPID BILAYERS PHOSPHOLIPIDS TEMPERATURE