Membrane shape remodeling by protein crowding

The steric repulsion between proteins on biological membranes is one of the most generic mechanisms that cause membrane shape changes. We present a minimal model in which a spontaneous curvature is induced by asymmetric protein crowding. Our results show that the interplay between the induced spontaneous curvature and the membrane tension determines the energy-minimizing shapes, which describes the wide range of experimentally observed membrane shapes, i.e., flat membranes, spherical vesicles, elongated tubular protrusions, and pearling structures. Moreover, the model gives precise predictions on how membrane shape changes by protein crowding can be tuned by controlling the protein size, the density of proteins, and the size of the crowded domain.

Automated summary

The study presents a minimal model of membrane shape changes induced by asymmetric protein crowding, showing that the interplay between induced spontaneous curvature and membrane tension determines energy-minimizing shapes, which explains a wide range of experimentally observed membrane shapes. The model also provides precise predictions on how membrane shape changes by protein crowding can be adjusted by controlling protein size, density, and crowded domain size.