Membrane tension and membrane fusion.
Diverse cell biological processes that involve shaping and remodeling of cell membranes are regulated by membrane lateral tension. Here we focus on the role of tension in driving membrane fusion. We discuss the physics of membrane tension, forces that can generate the tension in plasma membrane of a cell, and the hypothesis that tension powers expansion of membrane fusion pores in late stages of cell-to-cell and exocytotic fusion. We propose that fusion pore expansion can require unusually large membrane tensions or, alternatively, low line tensions of the pore resulting from accumulation in the pore rim of membrane-bending proteins. Increase of the inter-membrane distance facilitates the reaction.
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel. Electronic address: michk@post.tau.ac.il.
Michael M
MM
Kozlov
Section on Membrane Biology, Program of Physical Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States. Electronic address: chernoml@mail.nih.gov.
Leonid V
LV
Chernomordik
D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000502:physiology*; D008561:Membrane Fusion; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009995:Osmosis
D008565:Membrane Proteins