Designing a Contractile Ring for Large Membrane Compartments (B10)

该项目的目的是设计一种可收缩的环结构，能够在几微米的空间尺度上诱导膜泡的变形和潜在的分裂。我们将通过两个不同的途径来实现这一目标：1)合理设计由单个滑动或构象转换DNA折纸结构组装的收缩元件，以及2)假定可收缩的Z环蛋白FtsZ的突变，以及筛选具有更大的环形成空间范围(高达10微米)的FtsZ同源物。构建的环结构将根据它们在单个分子水平上潜在的诱导收缩作用力进行定量分析。

The aim of this project is to design a contractile ring structure able to induce deformation and potentially fission of membrane vesicles over spatial scales of several micrometers. We will approach this aim via two separate avenues: 1) rational design of contractile elements assembled from single sliding or conformation-switching DNA origami structures, and 2) mutations of presumably contractile Z ring protein FtsZ, as well as screening for FtsZ homologues with much larger spatial ranges of ring formation (up to 10 µm). The constructed ring structures will be analyzed quantitatively with regard to their potentially induced contractile forces on a single molecule level.