Event

Title: Simulating and modeling the molecular mechanisms of biological lipid membrane reshaping

Compartments in the cell are defined by lipid bilayer membranes, which limit the flow of both information and cellular molecules. Lipid membranes are constantly being reshaped and reformed into spherically curved vesicles to transport and contain cargo within the cell. The membrane has stiffness that resists curvature, and so work must be performed by the cell to create a vesicle. The work in my lab applies simulation and modeling to test the qualitative mechanisms often suggested by crystallography and tomography. In this talk I will include analysis of the assumptions behind the so-called “crowding” mechanism of membrane reshaping.

Membrane bending by protein-protein crowding.

Nat Cell Biol. 2012 Sep;14(9):944-9. doi: 10.1038/ncb2561. Epub 2012 Aug 19.

Membrane Shape Instability Induced by Protein Crowding.

Biophys J. 2016 Nov 1;111(9):1823-1826. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2016.09.039.