Open Access

ARTICLE

Yong Gan^*, Zhen Chen^∗,†
Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.3, No.3, pp. 89-94, 2006, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2006.003.089
Abstract Due to their nanoscale size and special features, carbon nanotubes could enter the human body via certain way. The growing use of carbon nanotubes in practical applications, hence, prompts a necessity to study the potential health risks of carbon nanotubes. A numerical study is performed in this paper to investigate the size effect of carbon nanotubes on the bulk modulus of a lipid bilayer by using the constant surface tension molecular dynamics simulation procedure. It is found that the size effect is not monotonic with the increase of nanotube length. An explanation is given on More >

View

1752

Download

1272

Open Access

ARTICLE

X. Edward Guo^∗,†,‡, Erica Takai^∗,‡, Xingyu Jiang^§, Qiaobing Xu^§, George M. Whitesides^§, James T. Yardley^¶, Clark T. Hung^*, Eugene M. Chow^||, Thomas Hantschel^∗∗, Kevin D. Costa^∗
Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.3, No.3, pp. 95-108, 2006, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2006.003.095
Abstract In this study, bone cells were successfully cultured into a micropatterned network with dimensions close to that of in vivo osteocyte networks using microcontact printing and self-assembled monolyers (SAMs). The optimal geometric parameters for the formation of these networks were determined in terms of circle diameters and line widths. Bone cells patterned in these networks were also able to form gap junctions with each other, shown by immunofluorescent staining for the gap junction protein connexin 43, as well as the transfer of gap-junction permeable calcein-AM dye. We have demonstrated for the first time, that the intracellular More >

View

1943

Download

1479

Open Access

ARTICLE

Baohua Ji^*, Yonggang Huang^†
Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.3, No.3, pp. 109-120, 2006, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2006.003.109
Abstract The mechanisms governing the self-assembled structure of biomolecules (single chain and bundle of chains) are studied with an AB copolymer model via the coarse grained molecular dynamics simulations. Non-local hydrophobic interaction is found to play a critical role in the pattern formation of the assembled structure of polymer chains. We show that the polymer structure could be controlled by adjusting the balance between local (short range) and non-local (long range) hydrophobic interaction which are influenced by various factors such as the sequences, chain length, stiffness, confinement, and the topology of polymers. In addition, the competition More >

View

1814

Download

1239

Open Access

ARTICLE

Wendong Shi^∗,†, Xi-Qiao Feng^*, Huajian Gao^†
Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.3, No.3, pp. 121-126, 2006, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2006.003.121
Abstract When pulling a vesicle adhered on a substrate, both the force-displacement profile and the maximum force at pull-off are sensitively dependent upon the substrate shape. Here we consider the adhesion between a two-dimensional vesicle and a rigid substrate via long-range molecular interactions. For a given contact area, the theoretical pull-off force of the vesicle is obtained by multiplying the theoretical strength of adhesion and the contact area. It is shown that one may design an optimal substrate shape to achieve the theoretical pull-off force. More >

View

1622

Download

1226