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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

A Thermoplasmonic Approach for Investigating Plasma Membrane Repair in Living Cells and Model Membranes
Published on: January 19, 2024
Signaling from the living plasma membrane
Hernán E Grecco1, Malte Schmick, Philippe I H Bastiaens
1Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology, Department of Systemic Cell Biology, Otto-Hahn-Str. 11, D-44227 Dortmund, Germany.
Abstract:
Our understanding of the plasma membrane, once viewed simply as a static barrier, has been revolutionized to encompass a complex, dynamic organelle that integrates the cell with its extracellular environment. Here, we discuss how bidirectional signaling across the plasma membrane is achieved by striking a delicate balance between restriction and propagation of information over different scales of time and space and how underlying dynamic mechanisms give rise to rich, context-dependent signaling responses. In this Review, we show how computer simulations can generate counterintuitive predictions about the spatial organization of these complex processes.
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