Membrane tension lowering induced by protein activity

Faris, M. D. El Alaoui; Lacoste, D.; Pecreaux, J.; Joanny, J-F.; Prost, J.; Bassereau, P.

Membrane tension lowering induced by protein activity

Authors

Faris, M. D. El Alaoui

Description

We present measurements of the fluctuation spectrum of giant vesicles containing bacteriorhodopsin (BR) pumps using video-microscopy. When the pumps are activated, we observe a significant increase of the fluctuations in the low wavevector region, which we interpret as due to a lowering of the effective tension of the membrane.
4 pages, 2 figures