Design of biochemical pattern forming systems from minimal motifs
Although molecular self-organization and pattern formation are key features of life, only very few pattern-forming biochemical systems have been identified that can be reconstituted and studied in vitro under defined conditions. A systematic understanding of the underlying mechanisms is often hamper...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2019-11-01
|
Series: | eLife |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/48646 |
id |
doaj-6d9543989b3c4c918e6e57908ae9ceb9 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-6d9543989b3c4c918e6e57908ae9ceb92021-05-05T18:07:44ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2019-11-01810.7554/eLife.48646Design of biochemical pattern forming systems from minimal motifsPhilipp Glock0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0238-2634Fridtjof Brauns1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6108-9278Jacob Halatek2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3211-2253Erwin Frey3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8792-3358Petra Schwille4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6106-4847Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, GermanyArnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany; Center for NanoScience, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, GermanyArnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany; Center for NanoScience, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany; Biological Computation Group, Microsoft Research, Cambridge, United KingdomArnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany; Center for NanoScience, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, GermanyMax-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, GermanyAlthough molecular self-organization and pattern formation are key features of life, only very few pattern-forming biochemical systems have been identified that can be reconstituted and studied in vitro under defined conditions. A systematic understanding of the underlying mechanisms is often hampered by multiple interactions, conformational flexibility and other complex features of the pattern forming proteins. Because of its compositional simplicity of only two proteins and a membrane, the MinDE system from Escherichia coli has in the past years been invaluable for deciphering the mechanisms of spatiotemporal self-organization in cells. Here, we explored the potential of reducing the complexity of this system even further, by identifying key functional motifs in the effector MinE that could be used to design pattern formation from scratch. In a combined approach of experiment and quantitative modeling, we show that starting from a minimal MinE-MinD interaction motif, pattern formation can be obtained by adding either dimerization or membrane-binding motifs. Moreover, we show that the pathways underlying pattern formation are recruitment-driven cytosolic cycling of MinE and recombination of membrane-bound MinE, and that these differ in their in vivo phenomenology.https://elifesciences.org/articles/48646reaction-diffusionpattern formationmin systemself-organizationin vitro reconstitution |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Philipp Glock Fridtjof Brauns Jacob Halatek Erwin Frey Petra Schwille |
spellingShingle |
Philipp Glock Fridtjof Brauns Jacob Halatek Erwin Frey Petra Schwille Design of biochemical pattern forming systems from minimal motifs eLife reaction-diffusion pattern formation min system self-organization in vitro reconstitution |
author_facet |
Philipp Glock Fridtjof Brauns Jacob Halatek Erwin Frey Petra Schwille |
author_sort |
Philipp Glock |
title |
Design of biochemical pattern forming systems from minimal motifs |
title_short |
Design of biochemical pattern forming systems from minimal motifs |
title_full |
Design of biochemical pattern forming systems from minimal motifs |
title_fullStr |
Design of biochemical pattern forming systems from minimal motifs |
title_full_unstemmed |
Design of biochemical pattern forming systems from minimal motifs |
title_sort |
design of biochemical pattern forming systems from minimal motifs |
publisher |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
series |
eLife |
issn |
2050-084X |
publishDate |
2019-11-01 |
description |
Although molecular self-organization and pattern formation are key features of life, only very few pattern-forming biochemical systems have been identified that can be reconstituted and studied in vitro under defined conditions. A systematic understanding of the underlying mechanisms is often hampered by multiple interactions, conformational flexibility and other complex features of the pattern forming proteins. Because of its compositional simplicity of only two proteins and a membrane, the MinDE system from Escherichia coli has in the past years been invaluable for deciphering the mechanisms of spatiotemporal self-organization in cells. Here, we explored the potential of reducing the complexity of this system even further, by identifying key functional motifs in the effector MinE that could be used to design pattern formation from scratch. In a combined approach of experiment and quantitative modeling, we show that starting from a minimal MinE-MinD interaction motif, pattern formation can be obtained by adding either dimerization or membrane-binding motifs. Moreover, we show that the pathways underlying pattern formation are recruitment-driven cytosolic cycling of MinE and recombination of membrane-bound MinE, and that these differ in their in vivo phenomenology. |
topic |
reaction-diffusion pattern formation min system self-organization in vitro reconstitution |
url |
https://elifesciences.org/articles/48646 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT philippglock designofbiochemicalpatternformingsystemsfromminimalmotifs AT fridtjofbrauns designofbiochemicalpatternformingsystemsfromminimalmotifs AT jacobhalatek designofbiochemicalpatternformingsystemsfromminimalmotifs AT erwinfrey designofbiochemicalpatternformingsystemsfromminimalmotifs AT petraschwille designofbiochemicalpatternformingsystemsfromminimalmotifs |
_version_ |
1721458743632199680 |