title: The interdependence of membrane shape and cellular signal processing.
abstract: Cellular membranes are constantly reshaped by vesicular fission and fusion as well as by interactions with the dynamic cytoskeleton. Signaling activity at membranes depends on their geometric parameters, such as surface area and curvature; these affect local concentration and thereby regulate the potency of molecular reactions. A membrane's shape is thus inextricably tied to information processing. Here, we review how a trinity of signaling, cytoskeletal dynamics, and membrane shape interact within a closed-loop causality that gives rise to an energy-consuming, self-organized system that changes shape to sense the extracellular environment.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Department of Systemic Cell Biology, Otto-Hahn-Str. 11, 44227 Dortmund, Germany.
authors.forename: Malte
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmick
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Department of Systemic Cell Biology, Otto-Hahn-Str. 11, 44227 Dortmund, Germany. Electronic address: philippe.bastiaens@mpi-dortmund.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Philippe I H
authors.initials: PIH
authors.lastname: Bastiaens
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D048430:Cell Shape; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D018631:ras Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018631:ras Proteins