Berlin 2024 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 8: Poster Session Ia
BP 8.21: Poster
Monday, March 18, 2024, 18:00–20:30, Poster C
Modulating self-organizing protein patterns by controlling the number of membrane linkers and the membrane charge — •Katharina Esch1,2, Mergime Hasani1,2, and Katja Zieske1,2 — 1Biophysics and Optogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen, Germany — 2Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
In nature, patterns occur on many different scales and are an expression of nature's ability to self-organize. Understanding the mechanisms regulating such patterns is an intriguing challenge in biophysics. The Min protein system is one of the best-studied examples of protein self-organization, and Min proteins self-organize into spiral waves on a model lipid membrane. In this study, we investigate the effects of biophysical membrane parameters on Min protein waves using purified proteins and a model lipid membrane. First, we demonstrate that an increase in protein-membrane interaction induces patterns of different geometry. Specifically, we observe not only wave-like patterns but also snowflake-like and flower-like patterns in dependence on the number of membrane linkers. Second, we demonstrate that these snowflake-like patterns not only occur on E. coli membranes but also on a minimal membrane composition of DOPC and PG. Finally, membrane charge modulates the complexity of protein patterns. Our results demonstrate that the regulation of membrane charge and linkers is an intriguing mechanism to regulate cellular pattern formation on the mesoscale.
Keywords: Lipid Membranes; Self-organization; Min Proteins; Membrane-protein Interaction; Protein patterns