中国物理B ›› 2023, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (8): 88704-088704.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/acd7cc

所属专题： SPECIAL TOPIC — Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Physics Discipline of Xiamen University

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Pressure-driven membrane inflation through nanopores on the cell wall

Qi Zhong(钟祺)1, Chen-Xu Wu(吴晨旭)1,2, and Rui Ma(马锐)1,2,†   

  1. 1. Department of Physics, College of Physical Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China;
    2. Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
  • 收稿日期:2023-02-19 修回日期:2023-04-17 接受日期:2023-05-23 发布日期:2023-07-27
  • 通讯作者: Rui Ma E-mail:ruima@xmu.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    We acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.12004317), Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities of China (Grant No.20720200072), and 111 Project (Grant No.B16029).

Pressure-driven membrane inflation through nanopores on the cell wall

Qi Zhong(钟祺)1, Chen-Xu Wu(吴晨旭)1,2, and Rui Ma(马锐)1,2,†   

  1. 1. Department of Physics, College of Physical Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China;
    2. Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
  • Received:2023-02-19 Revised:2023-04-17 Accepted:2023-05-23 Published:2023-07-27
  • Contact: Rui Ma E-mail:ruima@xmu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    We acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.12004317), Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities of China (Grant No.20720200072), and 111 Project (Grant No.B16029).

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摘要： Walled cells, such as in plants and fungi, compose an important part of the model systems in biology. The cell wall primarily prevents the cell from over-expansion when exposed to water, and is a porous material distributed with nanosized pores on it. In this paper, we study the deformation of a membrane patch by an osmotic pressure through a nanopore on the cell wall. We find that there exists a critical pore size or a critical pressure beyond which the membrane cannot stand against the pressure and would inflate out through the pore and further expand. The critical pore size scales linearly with the membrane tension and quadratically with the spontaneous curvature. The critical pressure is inversely proportional to the pore radius. Our results also show that the fluid membrane expansion by pressure is mechanically different from the solid balloon expansion, and predict that the bending rigidity of the membrane in walled cells should be much larger than that of the mammalian cells so as to prevent membrane inflation through the pores on the cell wall.

关键词: membrane mechanics, endocytosis, osmotic pressure, nanopores

Abstract: Walled cells, such as in plants and fungi, compose an important part of the model systems in biology. The cell wall primarily prevents the cell from over-expansion when exposed to water, and is a porous material distributed with nanosized pores on it. In this paper, we study the deformation of a membrane patch by an osmotic pressure through a nanopore on the cell wall. We find that there exists a critical pore size or a critical pressure beyond which the membrane cannot stand against the pressure and would inflate out through the pore and further expand. The critical pore size scales linearly with the membrane tension and quadratically with the spontaneous curvature. The critical pressure is inversely proportional to the pore radius. Our results also show that the fluid membrane expansion by pressure is mechanically different from the solid balloon expansion, and predict that the bending rigidity of the membrane in walled cells should be much larger than that of the mammalian cells so as to prevent membrane inflation through the pores on the cell wall.

Key words: membrane mechanics, endocytosis, osmotic pressure, nanopores

中图分类号:  (Membranes, bilayers, and vesicles)

  • 87.16.D-
87.15.La (Mechanical properties)