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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 1: Membranes, Vesicles, Synthetic Cells
BP 1.5: Talk
Monday, March 27, 2023, 10:30–10:45, BAR Schö
Predicting membrane turnover during cytokinesis — •Felix Frey1 and Timon Idema2 — 1Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg, Austria — 2Department of Bionanoscience, Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
When animal cells divide, they split into two equal parts. Since the volume of the cell is typically conserved during cell division, the projected area of the cell membrane has to increase to allow for the change of shape. The membrane area is controlled by exocytosis, resulting in an increase in membrane area and its counterpart endocytosis, resulting in a decrease in membrane area. However, it is unclear how exo- and endocytosis need to adapt to enable successful division. To address this question, we developed a kinetic model in which membrane gain and loss depend on membrane curvature and tension [1]. We apply this model to a series of calculated vesicle shapes, which we take as a proxy for the shape of dividing cells. We find that the ratio of membrane gain and loss changes non-monotonically during cytokinesis due to the complex interplay between membrane area and shape. Our results suggest that controlling membrane turnover is critical for the successful division of both biological and artificial cells. [1] Felix Frey and Timon Idema, Phys. Rev. E 106, 024401 (2022).