Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 106, Issue 37, Pages 15663-15666Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0907795106
Keywords
biological force spectroscopy; elasticity of thin films; phase-contrast microscopy in biophysics
Categories
Funding
- Department of Energy, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, Office of Basic Energy Sciences [DE-FG02-04ER46149]
- National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health [P41-RR02594-18]
- National Science Foundation [DBI-0754339]
- Hamamatsu Corporation
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) [DE-FG02-04ER46149] Funding Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Div Of Biological Infrastructure [0754339] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Using quantitative phase microscopy, we have discovered a quadratic relationship between the radius R and the thickness t of helical ribbons that form spontaneously in multicomponent cholesterol-surfactant mixtures. These helical ribbons may serve as mesoscopic springs to measure or to exert forces on nanoscale biological objects. The spring constants of these helices depend on their submicroscopic thickness. The quadratic relationship (R proportional to t(2)) between radius and thickness is a consequence of the crystal structure of the ribbons and enables a determination of the spring constant of any of our helices solely in terms of its observable geometrical dimensions.
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