Directing Min protein patterns with advective bulk flow

Meindlhumer et al. report a combined theoretical/experimental study of how the propagation direction of Min protein patterns can be altered by a bulk flow of solution. The Min proteins constitute the best-studied model system for pattern formation in cell biology. We theoretically predict and experimentally show that the propagation direction of in vitro Min protein patterns can be controlled by a hydrodynamic flow of the bulk solution. We find downstream propagation of Min wave patterns for low MinE:MinD concentration ratios, upstream propagation for large ratios, but multistability of both propagation directions in between. Whereas downstream propagation can be described by a minimal model that disregards MinE conformational switching, upstream propagation can be reproduced by a reduced switch model, where increased MinD bulk concentrations on the upstream side promote protein attachment. Our study demonstrates that a differential flow, where bulk flow advects protein concentrations in the bulk, but not on the surface, can control surface-pattern propagation. This suggests that flow can be used to probe molecular features and to constrain mathematical models for pattern-forming systems.

Automated summary

Meindlhumer et al. have conducted a combined theoretical and experimental study on how the propagation direction of Min protein patterns can be changed by a bulk flow of solution. They demonstrate that the direction of in vitro Min protein patterns can be controlled by hydrodynamic flow, with downstream propagation for low concentration ratios of MinE:MinD, upstream propagation for large ratios, and multistability in between. Their study reveals the potential of using flow to probe molecular features and constrain mathematical models for pattern formation systems.