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Membranes

Shaping biological matter

Biological membranes form an extremely complex and dynamic network in cells, guided by specialized protein machinery. A new algorithm analyses membrane shape to extract forces applied by proteins controlling the membranes.

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Figure 1: Calculation of forces acting on a membrane boundary from the membrane shape.
Figure 2: Hypothetical algorithm of calculation of forces shaping an organelle.

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Frolov, V., Zimmerberg, J. Shaping biological matter. Nature Mater 8, 173–174 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2390

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