The nanomechanics of lipid membranes regulates a large number of cellular functions. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the plastic rupture of individual bilayers remain elusive. This study uses force clamp spectroscopy to capture the force-dependent dynamics of membrane failure on a model diphytanoylphosphatidylcholine multilayer stack, which is devoid of surface effects. The obtaine...

Bond-rupture scanning for biomedical diagnostics is examined using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) experiments and microparticle mechanics modeling calculations. Specific and nonspecific interactions between a microparticle and its binding QCM surface can be distinguished by gradually increasing the amplitude of driving voltage applied to QCM and monitoring its frequency changes. This researc...

We probe the dynamic strength of multiple biotin-streptavidin adhesion bonds under linear loading using the biomembrane force probe setup for dynamic force spectroscopy. Measured rupture force histograms are compared to results from a master equation model for the stochastic dynamics of bond rupture under load. This allows us to extract the distribution of the number of initially closed bonds. ...

Electromagnetic forces in power transformer windings are produced by interaction between the leakage fluxes and current passing them. Since the leakage flux distribution along the windings height is in two axial and radial directions, so the electromagnetic forces have two components, radial and axial. There is a risk that a large electromagnetic force due to the short circuit or inrush current...

Single-molecule pulling experiments on unstructured proteins linked to neurodegenerative diseases have measured rupture forces comparable to those for stable folded proteins. To investigate the structural mechanisms of this unexpected force resistance, we perform pulling simulations of the amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) and α-synuclein (αS), starting from simulated conformational ensembles for the free...

The interaction of the a5b1 integrin and its ligand, fibronectin (FN), plays a crucial role in the adhesion of cells to the extracellular matrix. An important intrinsic property of the a5b1/FN interaction is the dynamic response of the complex to a pulling force. We have carried out atomic force microscopy measurements of the interaction between a5b1 and a fibronectin fragment derived from the ...