How Membrane Geometry Regulates Protein Sorting Independently of Mean Curvature

Jannik B. Larsen, Kadla R. Rosholm, Celeste Kennard, Soren L. Pedersen, Henrik K. Munch, Vadym Tkach, John J. Sakon, Thomas Bjornholm, Keith R. Weninger, Poul Martin Bendix, Knud J. Jensen, Nikos S. Hatzakis, Mark J. Uline*, Dimitrios Stamou*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Biological membranes have distinct geometries that confer specific functions. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the phenomenological geometry/function correlations remain elusive. We studied the effect of membrane geometry on the localization of membrane-bound proteins. Quantitative comparative experiments between the two most abundant cellular membrane geometries, spherical and cylindrical, revealed that geometry regulates the spatial segregation of proteins. The measured geometry-driven segregation reached 50-fold for membranes of the same mean curvature, demonstrating a crucial and hitherto unaccounted contribution by Gaussian curvature. Molecular-field theory calculations elucidated the underlying physical and molecular mechanisms. Our results reveal that distinct membrane geometries have specific physicochemical properties and thus establish a ubiquitous mechanistic foundation for unravelling the conserved correlations between biological function and membrane polymorphism.

Original languageEnglish
JournalACS Central Science
Volume6
Issue number7
Pages (from-to)1159-1168
Number of pages10
ISSN2374-7943
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Keywords

  • AMPHIPATHIC HELICES
  • SYNAPTOTAGMIN
  • MECHANISMS
  • LOCALIZATION
  • AMPHIPHYSIN
  • INDUCE
  • DOMAIN
  • CELL

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