Mechanisms shaping cell membranes

Michael M. Kozlov*, Felix Campelo, Nicole Liska, Leonid V. Chernomordik, Siewert J. Marrink, Harvey T. McMahon

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

191 Scopus citations

Abstract

Membranes of intracellular organelles are characterized by large curvatures with radii of the order of 10-30. nm. While, generally, membrane curvature can be a consequence of any asymmetry between the membrane monolayers, generation of large curvatures requires the action of mechanisms based on specialized proteins. Here we discuss the three most relevant classes of such mechanisms with emphasis on the physical requirements for proteins to be effective in generation of membrane curvature. We provide new quantitative estimates of membrane bending by shallow hydrophobic insertions and compare the efficiency of the insertion mechanism with those of the protein scaffolding and crowding mechanisms.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)53-60
Number of pages8
JournalCurrent Opinion in Cell Biology
Volume29
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2014

Funding

FundersFunder number
Joseph Klafter Chair in Biophysics
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Child Health and Human DevelopmentZIAHD001501
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Medical Research CouncilMC_U105178795
Israel Science Foundation758/11

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