Real-time membrane fusion of giant polymer vesicles.
Real-time membrane fusion of giant polymer vesicles.
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DOI：
10.1021/ja0505696
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发表时间：
2005-08
影响因子：
15
通讯作者：
Yongfeng Zhou;D. Yan
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Yongfeng Zhou;D. Yan
在后生动物的进化过程中，膜融合对于许多复杂器官的形成非常重要，如肌肉、骨骼和胎盘。脂质囊泡（脂质体）经常被用作研究融合过程的模型膜。这项工作通过直接显示单个囊泡的一系列高分辨率和实时转换图像，首次展示了巨型聚合物囊泡的实时膜融合。融合过程包括膜接触、中心壁形成、融合孔对称扩张和完全融合的顺序步骤，经历了“8”形、花生（梨）形和扁球形的过渡过程。融合过程中囊泡膨胀，融合囊泡仅在融合孔周围颈部区域横向变形，验证了融合孔横向张力在囊泡变形水平上的重要性。成功融合的合成和无蛋白质的聚合物囊泡在这里报道也支持囊泡接近结合膜扰动足以诱导膜融合，而蛋白质是不必要的融合过程。
Membrane fusion is very important for the formation of many complex organs in metazoans throughout evolution, such as muscles, bones, and placentae. Lipid vesicles (liposomes) are frequently used as model membranes to study the fusion process. This work demonstrates for the first time the real-time membrane fusion of giant polymer vesicles by directly displaying a series of high-resolution and real-time transformation images of individual vesicles. The fusion process includes the sequential steps of membrane contact, forming the center wall, symmetric expansion of fusion pore and complete fusion, undergoing the intermediates of "8" shape with a protruding rim at the contact site, peanut (pear) shape, and oblate sphere. The vesicle swells during fusion, and the fusing vesicle only deforms in the neck domain around the fusion pore in the lateral direction, which verifies the importance of the lateral tension on the fusion pore at the vesicle deformation level. The successful fusion of the synthetic and protein-free polymer vesicles reported here also supports that vesicle proximity combined with membrane perturbation suffices to induce membrane fusion, and that the protein is not necessary for the fusion process.