Merklinger Elisa, Schloetel Jan-Gero, Weber Pascal, Batoulis Helena, Holz Sarah, Karnowski Nora, Finke Jérôme, Lang Thorsten
Membrane Biochemistry, Life and Medical Sciences (LIMES) Institute, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Chemical Biology, Life and Medical Sciences (LIMES) Institute, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Elife. 2017 Jul 19;6:e20705. doi: 10.7554/eLife.20705.
Molecule clustering is an important mechanism underlying cellular self-organization. In the cell membrane, a variety of fundamentally different mechanisms drive membrane protein clustering into nanometre-sized assemblies. To date, it is unknown whether this clustering process can be dissected into steps differentially regulated by independent mechanisms. Using clustered syntaxin molecules as an example, we study the influence of a cytoplasmic protein domain on the clustering behaviour. Analysing protein mobility, cluster size and accessibility to myc-epitopes we show that forces acting on the transmembrane segment produce loose clusters, while cytoplasmic protein interactions mediate a tightly packed state. We conclude that the data identify a hierarchy in membrane protein clustering likely being a paradigm for many cellular self-organization processes.
分子聚类是细胞自我组织的重要机制。在细胞膜中，多种根本不同的机制驱动膜蛋白聚集成纳米级别的组装体。迄今为止，尚不清楚这种聚类过程是否可以分解为由独立机制差异调节的步骤。以聚集的 syntaxin 分子为例，我们研究了细胞质蛋白结构域对聚类行为的影响。通过分析蛋白质的流动性、簇大小和 myc 表位的可及性，我们发现作用于跨膜片段的力产生松散的簇，而细胞质蛋白相互作用介导紧密堆积状态。我们得出结论，这些数据确定了膜蛋白聚类中的一种层次结构，这可能是许多细胞自我组织过程的范例。
