© 1999 Robert A. Freitas Jr. All Rights Reserved.

Robert A. Freitas Jr., Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities, Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, TX, 1999

9.4.3.2.3 Plasma Membrane Bending Elasticity

The bending stiffness (bending modulus) of the red cell plasma membrane at room temperature is B ~ 1.8 x 10^-19 Nm.^{371,1203,1411,3171} The energy required to bend the plasma membrane into a hemispherical cap is ~4 p B ~ 2300 zJ.¹²⁰³ A nanorobot footpad of size L_foot that exerts a backward force F ~ 10 pN against the plasma membrane may cause the membrane surface behind the footpad to fold into a ripple with radius of curvature r_curve ~ B / F ~ 20 nm. The dynamic resistance to RBC plasma membrane folding appears to be limited by viscous dissipation in the cytoplasmic and external fluid phases.³¹⁷¹ The plasma membrane has only a very weak resistance to bending.

Last updated on 21 February 2003