A sub-nanometre view of how membrane curvature and composition modulate lipid packing and protein recruitment

• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5916
• Publication Date: 2014-09-15T13:31:45Z
• Authors: Stefano Vanni; Hisaaki Hirose; Hélène Barelli; Bruno Antonny; Romain Gautier
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Recombinant Fusion Proteins; Cell Membrane; Fatty Acids; GTPase-Activating Proteins; Green Fluorescent Proteins; Lipid Bilayers; Gene Expression; Epithelial Cells; Retinal Pigment Epithelium; Molecular Dynamics Simulation; 03 medical and health sciences; Cell Adhesion; Phosphatidylcholines; Humans; Dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine; Cell Shape; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; Cell Line, Transformed

Two parameters of biological membranes, curvature and lipid composition, direct the recruitment of many peripheral proteins to cellular organelles. Although these traits are often studied independently, it is their combination that generates the unique interfacial properties of cellular membranes. Here, we use a combination of in vivo, in vitro and in silico approaches to provide a comprehensive map of how these parameters modulate membrane adhesive properties. The correlation between the membrane partitioning of model amphipathic helices and the distribution of lipid-packing defects in membranes of different shape and composition explains how macroscopic membrane properties modulate protein recruitment by changing the molecular topography of the membrane interfacial region. Furthermore, our results suggest that the range of conditions that can be obtained in a cellular context is remarkably large because lipid composition and curvature have, under most circumstances, cumulative effects.