ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2021
Membrane bending by protein phase separation.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 110 papers.
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Who cites it
110 citing papers in PubMed.
- Visualization of membrane-stabilized SorCS2Journal of structural biology: X · 2026Article
- Devising a divisome for synthetic cells.Nature reviews. Chemistry · 2026Review
- Hydrophobic interactions of FG-nucleoporins are required for dilating nuclear membrane pores into selective transport channels after mitosis.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2026Article
- The membrane transition strongly enhances biopolymer condensation through prewetting.Nature chemical biology · 2026Article
- Phase separation across membranes and condensates in cell organization and function.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2026Review
- Lipid Composition Modulates Secondary Structure at the Biocondensate-Membrane Interface.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Two-dimensional HRS condensates drive the assembly of flat clathrin lattices on endosomes.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Article
- Plasma membrane invaginations and their diverse cellular functions.BMC biology · 2026Review
- PMF proteins mediate mitochondrial fusion in Arabidopsis.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Physiological implications of phase separation in vesicle organization and trafficking.BMC biology · 2026Review
- Spindle pole proteins confine chromosomes to ensure their expulsion during female meiosis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Ultra-Low-Cross-Linked Microgels Reveal Unexpected Dynamics in Overcrowded Conditions.ACS macro letters · 2026Article
- Mechanochemical feedback between confinement and actin crosslinking drives the shape dynamics of liquid-like droplets.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Biomolecular Condensates Can Induce Local Membrane Potentials.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026Article
- Biomolecular Condensates in and Around the ER-Golgi Interface.Sub-cellular biochemistry · 2026Review
- Biomolecular Condensates, Crowding, and Membranes: The Role of Water Revealed with Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy and Phasor Analysis.Sub-cellular biochemistry · 2026Review
- Insights into de-mixing and morphology modulation in coacervate-membrane interactions from integrating experiments and simulations.Communications chemistry · 2025Article
- Simulations reveal a balance between protein-protein and protein-lipid interactions during condensation on membrane surfaces.Chemical science · 2025Article
- Hydrophobic interactions of FG-nucleoporins are required for dilating nuclear membrane pores into selective transport channels after mitosis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
50 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Membrane bending is a ubiquitous cellular process that is required for membrane traffic, cell motility, organelle biogenesis, and cell division. Proteins that bind to membranes using specific structural features, such as wedge-like amphipathic helices and crescent-shaped scaffolds, are thought to be the primary drivers of membrane bending. However, many membrane-binding proteins have substantial regions of intrinsic disorder which lack a stable three-dimensional structure. Interestingly, many of these disordered domains have recently been found to form networks stabilized by weak, multivalent contacts, leading to assembly of protein liquid phases on membrane surfaces. Here we ask how membrane-associated protein liquids impact membrane curvature. We find that protein phase separation on the surfaces of synthetic and cell-derived membrane vesicles creates a substantial compressive stress in the plane of the membrane. This stress drives the membrane to bend inward, creating protein-lined membrane tubules. A simple mechanical model of this process accurately predicts the experimentally measured relationship between the rigidity of the membrane and the diameter of the membrane tubules. Discovery of this mechanism, which may be relevant to a broad range of cellular protrusions, illustrates that membrane remodeling is not exclusive to structured scaffolds but can also be driven by the rapidly emerging class of liquid-like protein networks that assemble at membranes.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.