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Bernard C, Carotenuto AR, Pugno NM, Fraldi M, Deseri L. Modelling lipid rafts formation through chemo-mechanical interplay triggered by receptor-ligand binding. Biomech Model Mechanobiol 2024; 23:485-505. [PMID: 38060155 DOI: 10.1007/s10237-023-01787-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
Cell membranes, mediator of many biological mechanisms from adhesion and metabolism up to mutation and infection, are highly dynamic and heterogeneous environments exhibiting a strong coupling between biochemical events and structural re-organisation. This involves conformational changes induced, at lower scales, by lipid order transitions and by the micro-mechanical interplay of lipids with transmembrane proteins and molecular diffusion. Particular attention is focused on lipid rafts, ordered lipid microdomains rich of signalling proteins, that co-localise to enhance substance trafficking and activate different intracellular biochemical pathways. In this framework, the theoretical modelling of the dynamic clustering of lipid rafts implies a full multiphysics coupling between the kinetics of phase changes and the mechanical work performed by transmembrane proteins on lipids, involving the bilayer elasticity. This mechanism produces complex interspecific dynamics in which membrane stresses and chemical potentials do compete by determining different morphological arrangements, alteration in diffusive walkways and coalescence phenomena, with a consequent influence on both signalling potential and intracellular processes. Therefore, after identifying the leading chemo-mechanical interactions, the present work investigates from a modelling perspective the spatio-temporal evolution of raft domains to theoretically explain co-localisation and synergy between proteins' activation and raft formation, by coupling diffusive and mechanical phenomena to observe different morphological patterns and clustering of ordered lipids. This could help to gain new insights into the remodelling of cell membranes and could potentially suggest mechanically based strategies to control their selectivity, by orienting intracellular functions and mechanotransduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Bernard
- Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Angelo Rosario Carotenuto
- Department of Structures for Engineering and Architecture, University of Naples "Federico II", Naples, Italy
- Laboratory of Integrated Mechanics and Imaging for Testing and Simulation (LIMITS), University of Naples "Federico II", Naples, Italy
| | - Nicola Maria Pugno
- Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
- Laboratory for Bioinspired, Bionic, Nano, Meta Materials and Mechanics, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
- School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Massimiliano Fraldi
- Department of Structures for Engineering and Architecture, University of Naples "Federico II", Naples, Italy
- Laboratory of Integrated Mechanics and Imaging for Testing and Simulation (LIMITS), University of Naples "Federico II", Naples, Italy
- Département de Physique, LPENS, École Normale Supérieure-PSL, Paris, France
| | - Luca Deseri
- Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Trento, Italy.
- Department of Mechanical Engineering and Material Sciences, MEMS-SSoE, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA.
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA.
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA.
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