Affiliations: Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA | Petit Institute of Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA | Cardiovascular Biology Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA | Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Oklahoma Center for Medical Glycobiology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Dr. Cheng Zhu, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0363, USA. Tel.: +1 404 894 3269; Fax: +1 404 385 1397; E-mail: cheng.zhu@me.gatech.edu.
Abstract: Force can shorten the lifetimes of macromolecular complexes (e.g., receptor–ligand bonds) by accelerating their dissociation. Perhaps paradoxical at first glance, bond lifetimes can also be prolonged by force. This counterintuitive behavior was named catch bonds, which is in contrast to the ordinary slip bonds that describe the intuitive behavior of lifetimes being shortened by force. Fifteen years after their theoretical proposal, catch bonds have finally been observed. In this article we review recently published data that have demonstrated catch bonds in the selectin system and suggested catch bonds in other systems, the theoretical models for their explanations, possible structural bases, their relation to flow-enhanced adhesion, and the potential biorheological relevance.
Keywords: Kinetics, force, flow, shear
Journal: Biorheology, vol. 42, no. 6, pp. 443-462, 2005
