Changes in ESCRT-III filament geometry drive membrane remodelling and fission in silico
Harker-Kirschneck L, Baum B, Šarić A. 2019. Changes in ESCRT-III filament geometry drive membrane remodelling and fission in silico. BMC Biology. 17(1), 82.
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https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/559898
Harker-Kirschneck, Lena; Baum, Buzz; Šarić, AnđelaISTA
Background ESCRT-III is a membrane remodelling filament with the unique ability to cut membranes from the inside of the membrane neck. It is essential for the final stage of cell division, the formation of vesicles, the release of viruses, and membrane repair. Distinct from other cytoskeletal filaments, ESCRT-III filaments do not consume energy themselves, but work in conjunction with another ATP-consuming complex. Despite rapid progress in describing the cell biology of ESCRT-III, we lack an understanding of the physical mechanisms behind its force production and membrane remodelling. Results Here we present a minimal coarse-grained model that captures all the experimentally reported cases of ESCRT-III driven membrane sculpting, including the formation of downward and upward cones and tubules. This model suggests that a change in the geometry of membrane bound ESCRT-III filaments—from a flat spiral to a 3D helix—drives membrane deformation. We then show that such repetitive filament geometry transitions can induce the fission of cargo-containing vesicles. Conclusions Our model provides a general physical mechanism that explains the full range of ESCRT-III-dependent membrane remodelling and scission events observed in cells. This mechanism for filament force production is distinct from the mechanisms described for other cytoskeletal elements discovered so far. The mechanistic principles revealed here suggest new ways of manipulating ESCRT-III-driven processes in cells and could be used to guide the engineering of synthetic membrane-sculpting systems.
BMC Biology
We thank Jeremy Carlton, Mike Staddon, Geraint Harker, and the Wellcome Trust Consortium "Archaeal Origins of Eukaryotic Cell Organisation" for fruitful conversations. We thank Peter Wirnsberger and Tine Curk for discussions about the membrane model implementation.
Harker-Kirschneck L, Baum B, Šarić A. Changes in ESCRT-III filament geometry drive membrane remodelling and fission in silico. BMC Biology. 2019;17(1). doi:10.1186/s12915-019-0700-2
Harker-Kirschneck, L., Baum, B., & Šarić, A. (2019). Changes in ESCRT-III filament geometry drive membrane remodelling and fission in silico. BMC Biology. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-019-0700-2
Harker-Kirschneck, Lena, Buzz Baum, and Anđela Šarić. "Changes in ESCRT-III Filament Geometry Drive Membrane Remodelling and Fission in Silico." BMC Biology. Springer Nature, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-019-0700-2.
L. Harker-Kirschneck, B. Baum, and A. Šarić, "Changes in ESCRT-III filament geometry drive membrane remodelling and fission in silico," BMC Biology, vol. 17, no. 1. Springer Nature, 2019.
Harker-Kirschneck, Lena, et al. "Changes in ESCRT-III Filament Geometry Drive Membrane Remodelling and Fission in Silico." BMC Biology, vol. 17, no. 1, 82, Springer Nature, 2019, doi:10.1186/s12915-019-0700-2.
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