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SUMMARY:Wetting of Lipid Membranes by Biomolecular Condensates - Halim Kus
 umaatmaja (University of Durham)
DTSTART:20231101T140000Z
DTEND:20231101T150000Z
UID:TALK207916@talks.cam.ac.uk
DESCRIPTION:Biomolecular condensates composed of RNAs and/or proteins are 
 formed through phase separation like processes inside cells. There is now 
 increasing evidence that these condensates interact mechanically with othe
 r cellular components\, including lipid membranes. In this talk\, I will d
 iscuss several examples of such interactions\, and how they can be importa
 nt for biological functions. First\, during seed development of the plant 
 Arabidopsis thaliana\, micrometer-sized condensates form within the vacuol
 ar lumen and wet the tonoplast. Distinct tonoplast shapes arise in respons
 e to membrane wetting by condensates. Conditions of low membrane spontaneo
 us curvature and moderate wettability favour droplet-induced membrane budd
 ing\, whereas high membrane spontaneous curvature and strong wettability p
 romote membrane nanotubes that sit at the condensate interface. Second\, w
 e investigate heterogeneous nucleation of condensates on lipid membranes. 
 We find that membrane deformation can alter the nucleation pathway and sig
 nificantly lower the nucleation barrier (even to zero). Third\, recent obs
 ervations on the mitochondria of HeLa cells show that protein condensates 
 form in between lipid vesicles\, and we hypothesise such condensates can p
 rovide non-specific capillary adhesion mechanism. Studying the morphology 
 of capillary bridges between a condensate droplet and two vesicles\, we fi
 nd three distinct morphologies\, which we term bridging\, enclosing and zi
 pping. We speculate the zipping morphology may allow the formation of cont
 act sites between two opposing membranes.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Newton Institute
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