Richard Allen's Image Collection

To measure the build up of tension by the CV membrane an in vitro CV surrounded by a thin layer of cytosol containing ATP was mounted on the tip of a holding pipette and a thin glass rod or sphere, mounted on the tip of a microcantilever, was rested on the CV's membrane. During rounding of the CV the sphere or glass rod was pushed upward which is then recorded as an output voltage of a position sensor. This can be converted into force which, in turn, can be converted into tension. The tension of the rounded CV membrane increased 35-fold over the tension of the relaxed membrane. See Tani, Allen and Naitoh, J. Cell Sci. 114:785-795, 2001.