2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Regulation of biomembrane structure by protein binding
Project/Area Number |
25400425
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
Section | 一般 |
Research Field |
Biological physics/Chemical physics/Soft matter physics
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Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
Principal Investigator |
|
Project Period (FY) |
2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
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Keywords | 生物物理 / ソフトマター / 細胞 / 生体膜 / シミュレーション |
Outline of Final Research Achievements |
We have studied shape transitions of biomembranes using coarse-grained simulations. (i) We have revealed the condition where membrane-fluctuation-induced attraction between ligand-receptor sites binding neighboring membranes induces assembly of the binding cites. (ii) We have clarified that the polymer anchoring reduces the line tension of membrane edges, as well as the interfacial line tension between membrane domains. We have found that instead of the mixing of two phases as observed in typical binary fluids, densely anchored polymers stabilize small domains. (iii) We have revealed that banana-shaped protein rods assemble via two continuous directional phase separations unlike a conventional two-dimensional phase separation. For high protein density, polygonal tube and polyhedral vesicles are formed. (iv) We found that high-genus vesicles can exhibit a discrete transition from a polyhedral stomatocyte to a discocyte.
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Free Research Field |
ソフトマター物理
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