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Membrane-membrane and membrane-substrate adhesion during dissection of gap junctions with the atomic-force microscope

Hoh, Jan H. and Revel, Jean-Paul and Hansma, Paul K. (1992) Membrane-membrane and membrane-substrate adhesion during dissection of gap junctions with the atomic-force microscope. In: Scanning Probe Microscopies. Proceedings of SPIE. No.1639. Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) , Bellingham, WA, pp. 212-215. ISBN 9780819407856. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20190221-110528253

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Abstract

The gap junction is a specialized region of the plasma membrane that consists of an array of cell-to-cell ion channels. These channels form where the membranes from two cells come together, and the gap junction is therefore composed of two lipid bilayers. The atomic force microscope (AFM) can be used to dissect the gap junction, removing one membrane and exposing the extracellular domains of the second. The force required to dissect the membrane, near 10^(-8) N vertical force for gap junctions adsorbed to mica, provides a measure of the strength of the interaction between the two membranes. Since a single membrane is left in contact with the mica, this interaction must be stronger than the membrane-membrane interaction. Non-junctional membrane attached to the gap junctions is easily removed with the AFM tip while the gap junction membrane remains attached to the mica, providing evidence that the interaction with the mica is mainly mediated by protein-mica interactions. Consistent with this hypothesis is the observation that material trapped under the membrane sometimes results in pieces of membrane above the material being pulled out during dissection. These results lay the foundation for examining the molecular details of the basis for membrane- membrane and membrane-substrate adhesion.


Item Type:Book Section
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
https://doi.org/10.1117/12.58187DOIArticle
Additional Information:© 1992 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). This work was in supported in part by grants from the ONR (PKH, JHH) and Digital Instruments (PKH), and by the Colvin and Merck Fellowship Funds from the California Institute of Technology (JHH).
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
Office of Naval Research (ONR)UNSPECIFIED
CaltechUNSPECIFIED
Series Name:Proceedings of SPIE
Issue or Number:1639
DOI:10.1117/12.58187
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20190221-110528253
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20190221-110528253
Official Citation:Jan H. Hoh, Jean-Paul Revel, and Paul K. Hansma "Membrane-membrane and membrane-substrate adhesion during dissection of gap junctions with the atomic-force microscope", Proc. SPIE 1639, Scanning Probe Microscopies, (1 May 1992); doi: 10.1117/12.58187; https://doi.org/10.1117/12.58187
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:93149
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: George Porter
Deposited On:22 Feb 2019 18:41
Last Modified:16 Nov 2021 16:55

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