title: Mechanics of membrane fusion.
abstract: Diverse membrane fusion reactions in biology involve close contact between two lipid bilayers, followed by the local distortion of the individual bilayers and reformation into a single, merged membrane. We consider the structures and energies of the fusion intermediates identified in experimental and theoretical work on protein-free lipid bilayers. On the basis of this analysis, we then discuss the conserved fusion-through-hemifusion pathway of merger between biological membranes and propose that the entire progression, from the close juxtaposition of membrane bilayers to the expansion of a fusion pore, is controlled by protein-generated membrane stresses.
authors.affiliation: Section on Membrane Biology, Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biophysics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1855, USA. chernoml@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: Leonid V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Chernomordik
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kozlov
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007700:Kinetics; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000378:metabolism; D008561:Membrane Fusion / Q000502:physiology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008565:Membrane Proteins