Surface plasmon scattering by bidimensional indentations and protrusions is examined, mainly in the optical regime. The width of the defects is fixed, while their height is varied. Both individual defects and arrays of defects are considered. Protrusions mainly reflect the incident plasmons in the optical range. Indentations mainly radiate the incident plasmon out of plane. An indentation produ...

Wrinkles in graphene with desirable morphology have practical significance for electronic applications. Here we carry out a systematic molecular dynamics study of the wrinkling instability of graphene on substrate-supported nanoparticles (NPs). At a large NP dispersion distance, a monolayer graphene adheres to the substrate and bulges out locally to wrap around individual NPs, forming isolated ...

M6a is a four-transmembrane protein that is abundantly expressed in the nervous system. Previous studies have shown that over-expression of this protein induces various cellular protrusions, such as neurites, filopodia, and dendritic spines. In this detailed characterization of M6a-induced structures, we found their varied and peculiar characteristics. Notably, the M6a-induced protrusions were ...

Cells elongate on a surface with nanogrooved (NG) patterns and align along that pattern. Although various models have been proposed for how this occurs, much remains to be clarified. Studies with fixed cells do not lend themselves to answering some of these open questions. In this study, the dynamic behaviours of living mesenchymal stem cells on an NG substrate with a 200 nm groove depth, an 87...

The present work aims at reducing the friction of rubber soles sliding on ceramic floorings. Fitting bored cylindrical protrusions with different diameters on rubber soles was proposed. Experiments were carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed protrusions in increasing friction coefficient at dry and contaminated floorings. It was found that, at dry sliding, friction coefficient ...

Several bacterial pathogens hijack the actin assembly machinery and display intracellular motility in the cytosol of infected cells. At the cell cortex, intracellular motility leads to bacterial dissemination through formation of plasma membrane protrusions that resolve into vacuoles in adjacent cells. Here, we uncover a crucial role for actin network disassembly in dissemination of Listeria mo...

Proper morphogenesis of neuronal dendritic spines is essential for the formation of functional synaptic networks. However, it is not known how spines are initiated. Here, we identify the inverse-BAR (I-BAR) protein MIM/MTSS1 as a nucleator of dendritic spines. MIM accumulated to future spine initiation sites in a PIP2-dependent manner and deformed the plasma membrane outward into a proto-protru...

Molecular motors are involved in key transport processes inside actin-based cellular protrusions. The motors carry cargo proteins to the protrusion tip which participate in regulating the actin polymerization and play a key role in facilitating the growth and formation of such protrusions. It is observed that the motors accumulate at the tips of cellular protrusions and form aggregates that are...

the parasites of genus sarcocystis are among the most commonly found parasites in domestic ruminants and some species of sarcocystis can generate important economic loss when causing clinical and subclinical diseases. sarcocystis hominis, one of the three species of sarcocystis that cause muscular cysts in cattle, can infect the human intestinal tract. there is high infection rate of sarcocyst ...