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MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF THE CELL SURFACE IN STARFISH EGGS
Author(s) -
NAKAMURA SOICHI,
HIRAMOTO Y.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
development, growth and differentiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.864
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1440-169X
pISSN - 0012-1592
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-169x.1978.00317.x
Subject(s) - starfish , germinal vesicle , elasticity (physics) , biophysics , oocyte , stiffness , chemistry , ultrastructure , vesicle , materials science , anatomy , composite material , microbiology and biotechnology , membrane , biology , embryo , biochemistry , ecology
The mechanical properties of the cell surface of the starfish egg at various stages of maturation have been investigated using the cell elastimeter. When constant negative pressure was applied to a part of the cell with a micropipette closely in contact with it, it bulged out, and the bulge rapidly increased at first and then gradually reached a steady value within one min. The relation between the deformation of the cell surface (i.e. degree of bulging) and applied negative pressure was almost linear in both oocytes at the germinal vesicle stage and mature eggs. The surface force and the elasticity value: i.e., the product of the elastic modulus of the surface membrane (layer) and its thickness, were determined from the relation between the deformation and the negative pressure. The elasticity value was about 5 times the surface force in both oocytes at the germinal vesicle stage and mature eggs. When maturation of the oocyte was induced by 1‐methyladenine, the stiffness of the cell surface decreased shortly before the breakdown of the germinal vesicle. The stiffness transiently increased at the time of formation of the first and second polar‐bodies.