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Active membrane deformations of a minimal synthetic cell

Active membrane deformations of a minimal synthetic cell

来源:bioRxiv_logobioRxiv
英文摘要

Biological cells exhibit the remarkable ability to adapt their shape in response to their environment, a phenomenon that hinges on the intricate interplay between their deformable membrane and the underlying activity of their cytoskeleton. Yet, the precise physical mechanisms of this coupling remain mostly elusive. Here, we introduce a synthetic cell model, comprised of an active cytoskeletal network of microtubules, crosslinkers and molecular motors encapsulated inside giant vesicles. Remarkably, these active vesicles exhibit large shape fluctuations and life-like morphing abilities. Active forces from the encapsulated cytoskeleton give rise to large-scale traveling membrane deformations. Quantitative analysis of membrane and microtubule fluctuations shows how the intricate coupling of confinement, membrane material properties and cytoskeletal forces yields fluctuation spectra whose characteristic scales in space and time are distinctly different from passive vesicles. We demonstrate how activity leads to uneven probability fluxes between fluctuation modes and hence sets the temporal scale of membrane fluctuations. Using simulations and theoretical modelling, we extend the classical approach to membrane fluctuations to active cytoskeleton-driven vesicles, highlighting the effect of correlated activity on the dynamics of membrane deformations and paving the way for quantitative descriptions of the shape-morphing ability typical of living systems.

Faizi Hammad、Frechette Layne、Bausch Andreas、Sciortino Alfredo、Uplap Sarvesh、Peterson Matthew SE、Vlahovska Petia、Baskaran Aparna、Hagan Michael Francis

10.1101/2023.12.18.571643

细胞生物学生物物理学分子生物学

Faizi Hammad,Frechette Layne,Bausch Andreas,Sciortino Alfredo,Uplap Sarvesh,Peterson Matthew SE,Vlahovska Petia,Baskaran Aparna,Hagan Michael Francis.Active membrane deformations of a minimal synthetic cell[EB/OL].(2025-03-28)[2025-05-06].https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.18.571643.点此复制

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