M. Sokabe et al., MECHANICS OF PATCH CLAMPED AND INTACT CELL-MEMBRANES IN RELATION TO SA CHANNEL ACTIVATION, Japanese Journal of Physiology, 43, 1993, pp. 190000197-190000204
Stretch activated (SA) channels are believed to be activated by tensio
n in the membrane generated by membrane stretch. However, very few stu
dies have been made on the quantitative estimation of the tension duri
ng membrane stretch. Here we present a method to evaluate the tension
both in patch clamped and intact cell-membranes. The tension in patch
clamped membranes was calculated from Laplace's law by knowing transme
mbrane pressure and the radius of patch-curvature. We also provide a s
impler version for calculating the tension from the pressure and pipet
te radius. The tension in intact cell membranes was calculated from Ho
ok's law based on the measurement of changes in cell surface area. The
estimated tension required for activating SA channels in both types o
f membranes was found to be comparable suggesting that,the SA channel
acts as a physiological mechanotransducer in intact cells.