Two modes of exocytosis in an artificial cell.
The details of exocytosis, the vital cell process of neuronal communication, are still under debate with two generally accepted scenarios. The first mode of release involves secretory vesicles distending into the cell membrane to release the complete vesicle contents. The second involves partial release of the vesicle content through an intermittent fusion pore, or an opened or partially distended fusion pore. Here we show that both full and partial release can be mimicked with a single large-scale cell model for exocytosis composed of material from blebbing cell plasma membrane. The apparent switching mechanism for determining the mode of release is demonstrated to be related to membrane tension that can be differentially induced during artificial exocytosis. These results suggest that the partial distension mode might correspond to an extended kiss-and-run mechanism of release from secretory cells, which has been proposed as a major pathway of exocytosis in neurons and neuroendocrine cells.
University of Gothenburg, Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Lisa J
LJ
Mellander
Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Michael E
ME
Kurczy
Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Neda
N
Najafinobar
Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Johan
J
Dunevall
1] University of Gothenburg, Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden [2] Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Andrew G
AG
Ewing
Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Ann-Sofie
AS
Cans
D000818:Animals; D058045:Artificial Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D005089:Exocytosis / Q000502:physiology*; D008561:Membrane Fusion / Q000502:physiology; D016716:PC12 Cells; D051381:Rats; D022142:Secretory Vesicles / Q000378:metabolism*