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arXiv · cond-mat/0205630

Formation and Interaction of Membrane Tubes

Imre Derenyi·Frank Julicher·Jacques Prost
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Abstract

We show that the formation of membrane tubes (or membrane tethers), which is a crucial step in many biological processes, is highly non-trivial and involves first order shape transitions. The force exerted by an emerging tube is a non-monotonic function of its length. We point out that tubes attract each other, which eventually leads to their coalescence. We also show that detached tubes behave like semiflexible filaments with a rather short persistence length. We suggest that these properties play an important role in the formation and structure of tubular organelles.

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Imre Derenyi, Frank Julicher, Jacques Prost. 2002-05-29. Formation and Interaction of Membrane Tubes. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.88.238101

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