Abstract
An experimental device with an inexpensive electronic-mechanical measurement system was designed to clarify the role of mechanical tensions in cell activation. This device provides for maintaining a specified kinetics of either the object’s length or applied load to measure its tension force or deformation. The experiments were performed with the plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum, a giant unicellular organism, which is a classical object for studying a nonmuscle motility. Several examples of the longitudinal dynamics of the plasmodial strand and its activation in response to periodic switching at certain phases of the contraction- relaxation cycle are described.
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Abbreviations
- ADC:
-
analog-to-digital converter
- DAC:
-
digital-to-analog converter
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Original Russian Text © F.E. Il’yasov, M.A. Morozov, V.A. Teplov, 2008, published in Biofizika, 2008, Vol. 53, No. 6, pp. 1044–1050.
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Il’yasov, F.E., Morozov, M.A. & Teplov, V.A. Cytomechanics of oscillatory contractions. 1. Measuring active mechanical properties of the Physarum polycephalum plasmodial strands. BIOPHYSICS 53, 580–585 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0006350908060213
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0006350908060213