Publication Date:
2004-08-25
Description:
We demonstrate that the cell wall of living Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast) exhibits local temperature-dependent nanomechanical motion at characteristic frequencies. The periodic motions in the range of 0.8 to 1.6 kHz with amplitudes of approximately 3 nm were measured using the cantilever of an atomic force microscope (AFM). Exposure of the cells to a metabolic inhibitor causes the periodic motion to cease. From the strong frequency dependence on temperature, we derive an activation energy of 58 kJ/mol, which is consistent with the cell's metabolism involving molecular motors such as kinesin, dynein, and myosin. The magnitude of the forces observed ( approximately 10 nN) suggests concerted nanomechanical activity is operative in the cell.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Pelling, Andrew E -- Sehati, Sadaf -- Gralla, Edith B -- Valentine, Joan S -- Gimzewski, James K -- DK46828/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2004 Aug 20;305(5687):1147-50.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, 607 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15326353" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Biomechanical Phenomena
;
Cell Wall/*physiology/ultrastructure
;
Fourier Analysis
;
Microscopy, Atomic Force
;
Motion
;
Movement
;
Saccharomyces cerevisiae/drug effects/*physiology/ultrastructure
;
Sodium Azide/pharmacology
;
Temperature
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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