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Structure and elastic properties of tunneling nanotubes.
Pontes, Bruno; Viana, Nathan B; Campanati, Loraine; Farina, Marcos; Neto, Vivaldo Moura; Nussenzveig, H Moysés.
  • Pontes B; LPO-COPEA, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil.
Eur Biophys J ; 37(2): 121-9, 2008 Feb.
Article en En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-17598104
ABSTRACT
We investigate properties of a reported new mechanism for cell-cell interactions, tunneling nanotubes (TNT's). TNT's mediate actin-based transfer of vesicles and organelles and they allow signal transmission between cells. The effects of lateral pulling with polystyrene beads trapped by optical tweezers on TNT's linking separate U-87 MG human glioblastoma cells in culture are described. This cell line was chosen for handling ease and possible pathology implications of TNT persistence in communication between cancerous cells. Observed nanotubes are shown to have the characteristic features of TNT's. We find that pulling induces two different types of TNT bifurcations. In one of them, termed V-Y bifurcation, the TNT is first distorted into a V-shaped form, following which a new branch emerges from the apex. In the other one, termed I-D bifurcation, the pulled TNT is bent into a curved arc of increasingly broader span. Curves showing the variation of pulling force with displacement are obtained. Results yield information on TNT structure and elastic properties.
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Banco de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Comunicación Celular Límite: Humans Idioma: En Año: 2008 Tipo del documento: Article
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Banco de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Comunicación Celular Límite: Humans Idioma: En Año: 2008 Tipo del documento: Article