Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Am Klopferspitz 18, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany.
Trends Cell Biol. 2012 Dec;22(12):634-43. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2012.09.003. Epub 2012 Oct 12.
The components of the bacterial division machinery assemble to form a dynamic ring at mid-cell that drives cytokinesis. The nature of most division proteins and their assembly pathway is known. Our knowledge about the biochemical activities and protein interactions of some key division elements, including those responsible for correct ring positioning, has progressed considerably during the past decade. These developments, together with new imaging and membrane reconstitution technologies, have triggered the 'bottom-up' synthetic approach aiming at reconstructing bacterial division in the test tube, which is required to support conclusions derived from cellular and molecular analysis. Here, we describe recent advances in reconstituting Escherichia coli minimal systems able to reproduce essential functions, such as the initial steps of division (proto-ring assembly) and one of the main positioning mechanisms (Min oscillating system), and discuss future perspectives and experimental challenges.
细菌分裂机制的组成部分在细胞中部组装成一个动态环，从而驱动胞质分裂。大多数分裂蛋白及其组装途径的性质是已知的。在过去十年中，我们对一些关键分裂元件（包括负责正确环定位的那些元件）的生化活性和蛋白相互作用的了解有了相当大的进展。这些进展，加上新的成像和膜重建技术，引发了旨在在试管中重建细菌分裂的“自下而上”的综合方法，这对于支持从细胞和分子分析中得出的结论是必需的。在这里，我们描述了在重建能够重现基本功能的大肠杆菌最小系统方面的最新进展，例如分裂的初始步骤（原环组装）和主要定位机制之一（Min 振荡系统），并讨论了未来的展望和实验挑战。
