ESCRT-III- buckling . Virusten suosima isäntäsolun kapasiteetti

Proposed mechanism for ESCRT-III-induced membrane deformation. The stress in overbent (blue) and underbent (red) hSnf-7 filaments relaxes as the flat array buckles and forms a long tube, which is observed experimentally. This has the additional advantage of allowing more hSnf-7 filaments to bind to the membrane.

ESCRT-III is a protein complex implicated in the formation of membrane evaginations in eukaryotic cells, for instance during the exocytosis of the HIV virus. When overexpressed, one of its components, hSnf-7, polymerizes into filaments that form a circular array under the plasma membrane. Then these arrays bud outwards and are cut by another protein, forming topologically independent, membrane-coated vesicles. We describe the plane-to-evaginated transition of the hSnf-7 arrays as a buckling transition due to the build-up of elastic stresses in the naturally curved hSnf-7 filaments.

Collaborators:

Daniel J. G. Crow, Jean-François Joanny

Publication:

Curved filaments induce membrane buckling (2009)