Yin Ying, Arkhipov Anton, Schulten Klaus
Department of Physics and Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 405 North Mathews, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Structure. 2009 Jun 10;17(6):882-92. doi: 10.1016/j.str.2009.03.016.
Membrane compartments of manifold shapes are found in cells, often sculpted by cellular proteins. In particular, proteins of the BAR domain superfamily participate in membrane-sculpting processes in vivo and reshape also in vitro low-curvature membrane liposomes into high-curvature tubes and vesicles. Here we show by means of computer simulations totaling over 1 millisecond, how lattices involving parallel rows of amphiphysin N-BAR domains sculpt flat membranes into tubes. A highly detailed, dynamic picture of the 100-microsecond formation of membrane tubes by lattices of N-BAR domains is obtained. Lattice types inducing a wide range of membrane curvatures, with radii approximately 15-100 nm, are explored. The results suggest that multiple lattice types are viable for efficient membrane bending.
细胞中存在多种形状的膜性区室，它们通常由细胞蛋白塑造而成。特别是，BAR结构域超家族的蛋白质在体内参与膜塑造过程，并且在体外也能将低曲率的膜脂质体重塑为高曲率的管状和囊泡状。在这里，我们通过总计超过1毫秒的计算机模拟展示了，由平行排列的发动蛋白N-BAR结构域形成的晶格如何将扁平膜塑造成管状。我们获得了关于N-BAR结构域晶格在100微秒内形成膜管的高度详细的动态图像。我们探索了能诱导出范围广泛的膜曲率（半径约为15 - 100纳米）的晶格类型。结果表明，多种晶格类型对于高效的膜弯曲都是可行的。
