Abstract
We study microtubules in vesicles using micropipet aspiration. A single microtubule in a vesicle buckles as aspiration increases the tension in the membrane, yielding a measure of the persistence length, 6.3 mm. A linear bundle of microtubules deforms the membrane into the shape of the Greek letter . Under tension, this shape undergoes an abrupt and irreversible transition to a sphere and the microtubules are reorganized into a peripheral ring.
- Received 26 October 1995
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.76.4078
©1996 American Physical Society