Related papers: Signatures of Mechanosensitive Gating
We propose an alternative mechanism for the gating of biological membrane channels in response to membrane tension that involves a change in the slope of the membrane near the channel. Under biological membrane tensions we show that the…
Membrane proteins deform the surrounding lipid bilayer, which can lead to membrane-mediated interactions between neighboring proteins. Using the mechanosensitive channel of large conductance (MscL) as a model system, we demonstrate how the…
For ion channel gating, the appearance of two distinct conformational states and the discrete transitions between them is essential, and therefore of crucial importance to all living organisms. We show that the physical interplay between…
Biologically important membrane channels are gated by force at attached tethers. Here, we generically characterize the non-trivial interplay of force, membrane tension, and channel deformations that can affect gating. A central finding is…
The function of membrane-embedded proteins such as ion channels depends crucially on their conformation. We demonstrate how conformational changes in asymmetric membrane proteins may be inferred from measurements of their diffusion. Such…
While modern structural biology has provided us with a rich and diverse picture of membrane proteins, the biological function of membrane proteins is often influenced by the mechanical properties of the surrounding lipid bilayer. Here we…
Mechanosensitive channels are ion channels activated by membrane tension. We investigate the influence of bacterial mechanosensitive channels spatial distribution on activation (gating). Based on elastic short-range interactions we map this…
Preventing fluid penetration poses a challenging reliability concern in the context of power electronics, which is usually caused by unforeseen microfractures along the sealing joints. A better and more reliable product design heavily…
Molecular motion through pores plays a crucial role in various natural and industrial processes. One of the most fascinating features of biological channel-facilitated transport is a stochastic gating process, when the channels dynamically…
Analytic estimates for the forces and free energy generated by bilayer deformation reveal a compelling and intuitive model for MscL channel gating analogous to the nucleation of a second phase. We argue that the competition between…
Biological membranes are elastic media in which the presence of a transmembrane protein leads to local bilayer deformation. The energetics of deformation allow two membrane proteins in close proximity to influence each other's equilibrium…
Central to understanding membrane bound cell signaling is to quantify how the membrane ultra-structure consisting of transient spatial domains modulates signaling and how the signaling influences this ultra-structure. Yet, measuring the…
The study of selection and gating in potassium channels is a very important issue in modern biology. Indeed such structures are known in all types of cells in all organisms where they play many important functional roles. The mechanism of…
Experiments on single ionic channels have contributed to a large extent to our current view on the function of cell membrane. In these experiments the main observables are the physical quantities: ionic concentration, membrane electrostatic…
Many eukaryotic cells are able to perform directional mechanosensing by directly measuring minute spatial differences in the mechanical stress on their membranes. Here, we explore the limits of a single mechanosensitive channel activation…
Synthetic lipid membranes in the absence of proteins can display quantized conduction events for ions that are virtually indistinguishable from those of protein channel. By indistinguishable we mean that one cannot decide based on the…
Electronic transport in semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes is studied by combined scanning gate microscopy and scanning impedance microscopy (SIM). Depending on the probe potential, SIM can be performed in both invasive and…
Channel-mediated transport is ubiquitous in biology. A series of works by different theoreticians have sought to determine how the diffusive flux through a channel depends on (a) stochastic gating, (b) channel geometry, and (c)…
A systematic and mechanistic connection between granular materials' macroscopic and grain level behaviors is developed for monodisperse systems of spherical elastic particles under die compaction. The Granular Micromechanics Approach (GMA)…
Understanding protein dynamics are essential for deciphering protein functional mechanisms and developing molecular therapies. However, the complex high-dimensional dynamics and interatomic interactions of biological processes pose…