Protein self-organization: lessons from bacterial cell division
Petra Schwille, TU Dresden - Introduction by Hermann Gaub
24.01.2011 at 17:15
Probably the most fundamental feature of biological systems is their ability to self-organize in space and time on very different scales. In spite of many elaborate theoretical models of how molecular self-organization can come about, few experimental systems of biological origin have so far been rigorously described, mostly due to their inherent complexity. The most promising strategy of modern biophysics is thus, to identify minimal biological systems showing emergent behavior. One of the best-understood examples of protein self-organization is represented by the oscillations of the Min proteins in Escherichia coli, an essential subsystem of the bacterial divisome. We have recently successfully reconstituted this system in a cell-free assay, observing traveling Min waves on supported membranes, driven by energy (ATP). From our detailed studies of this system, including single-molecule analysis of the molecular processes, we hypothesize that cooperative membrane binding and unbinding, e.g., as an energy-dependent switch, may act as an important general regulatory mechanism for protein oscillations and pattern formation in the cell.