Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe
BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 24: Synthetic life-like systems and Origins of Life
BP 24.7: Vortrag
Mittwoch, 20. März 2024, 17:00–17:15, H 1028
Persistent Motion of Liposomes Driven by a Mechanochemical Feedback Loop — •Tom Burkart1, Meifang Fu2,3, Petra Schwille3, and Erwin Frey1 — 1Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics (ASC) and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), LMU München, Munich, Germany — 2MPI of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany — 3Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Shenzhen, China
Can a living cell be synthesized de novo, and can we reconstruct features such as cell motility in their biomimetic analogues? Cell motion involves multiple chemical and mechanical processes that are coupled via feedbacks spanning a large range of time and length scales. Reconstitution of cell-like motion therefore is an extremely challenging yet rewarding way for us to better understand this basic property of life. We accomplish motion of liposomes by realizing a mechanochemical feedback loop between the E. coli MinDE protein system and the liposomes, controlled by protein reactions and membrane adhesion. Self-organized chemical gradients of membrane-binding Min proteins induce deformations of liposomes into asymmetric shapes. This asymmetry yields mechanical force gradients resulting in directional liposome movement, which in turn reorganizes the protein pattern. In-silico reconstitution of the protein reaction-diffusion dynamics and the dynamic liposome geometry show that a simple mechanochemical feedback loop - consisting of protein pattern formation sensitive to membrane geometries and membrane adhesion sensitive to protein concentrations - is sufficient to induce persistent liposome motion.
Keywords: Pattern Formation; Mechanochemical Coupling; Synthetic Cells; Phase Field; Motility