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Related Concept Videos

Mechanisms of Membrane-bending01:15

Mechanisms of Membrane-bending

The living membranes are flexible due to their fluid mosaic nature; however, their bending into different shapes is an active process regulated by specific lipids and proteins. The membrane bending can be transient as seen in vesicles or stable for a long time as in microvilli. Cells regulate the size, location, and duration of the membrane curvature.
Membrane bending can happen due to intrinsic changes in lipid composition or extrinsic association with different proteins. The proteins involved...
Membrane Fluidity01:26

Membrane Fluidity

Membrane fluidity is explained by the fluid mosaic model of the cell membrane, which describes the plasma membrane structure as a mosaic of components—including phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins, and carbohydrates—that gives the membrane a fluid character.
Mosaic nature of the membrane
The mosaic characteristic of the membrane helps the plasma membrane remain fluid. The integral proteins and lipids exist as separate but loosely-attached molecules in the membrane. The membrane is a relatively...
Membrane Fluidity01:23

Membrane Fluidity

Cell membranes are composed of phospholipids, proteins, and carbohydrates loosely attached to one another through chemical interactions. Molecules are generally able to move about in the plane of the membrane, giving the membrane its flexible nature called fluidity. Two other features of the membrane contribute to membrane fluidity: the chemical structure of the phospholipids and the presence of cholesterol in the membrane.
Mechanisms of Membrane Domain Formation00:59

Mechanisms of Membrane Domain Formation

Different physical properties of lipids and proteins allow them to localize and form distinct islands or domains in the membrane. Some membrane domains are formed due to protein-protein interactions, whereas others are formed due to the presence of specific lipids such as sphingolipids and sterols—for example, large proteins, such as bacteriorhodopsin, aggregate and create distinct domains.
Another mechanism for membrane domain formation involves membrane proteins interacting with cytoskeletal...
What are Membranes?01:24

What are Membranes?

A cell's plasma membrane demarcates the cell's borders and determines the nature of its interaction with the environment. Cells exclude certain substances, take in others, and excrete some others in controlled quantities. The plasma membrane must be flexible to allow certain cells, such as red and white blood cells, to change their shape while passing through narrow capillaries. These are the more obvious plasma membrane functions. In addition, the plasma membrane's surface carries markers that...
What are Membranes?01:54

What are Membranes?

A key characteristic of life is the ability to separate the external environment from the internal space. To do this, cells have evolved semi-permeable membranes that regulate the passage of biological molecules. Additionally, the cell membrane defines a cell’s shape and interactions with the external environment. Eukaryotic cell membranes also serve to compartmentalize the internal space into organelles, including the endomembrane structures of the nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 19, 2026

Pulling Membrane Nanotubes from Giant Unilamellar Vesicles
06:26

Pulling Membrane Nanotubes from Giant Unilamellar Vesicles

Published on: December 7, 2017

Bending membranes.

Tom Kirchhausen1

  • 1Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School and Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. kirchhausen@crystal.harvard.edu

Nature Cell Biology
|September 5, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Peripheral membrane proteins bend lipid bilayers through clathrin scaffold assembly or protein-driven membrane crowding, challenging traditional insertion or adhesion models.

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Reconstitution of Septin Assembly at Membranes to Study Biophysical Properties and Functions
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A Nanobar-Supported Lipid Bilayer System for the Study of Membrane Curvature Sensing Proteins in vitro

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Last Updated: May 19, 2026

Pulling Membrane Nanotubes from Giant Unilamellar Vesicles
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Published on: December 7, 2017

Reconstitution of Septin Assembly at Membranes to Study Biophysical Properties and Functions
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Published on: July 28, 2022

A Nanobar-Supported Lipid Bilayer System for the Study of Membrane Curvature Sensing Proteins in vitro
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A Nanobar-Supported Lipid Bilayer System for the Study of Membrane Curvature Sensing Proteins in vitro

Published on: November 30, 2022

Area of Science:

  • Cell biology
  • Biophysics
  • Membrane dynamics

Background:

  • Peripheral membrane proteins are traditionally thought to induce membrane curvature via lipid bilayer insertion or protein-adhesion mechanisms.
  • These established models are widely accepted for explaining how proteins shape cellular membranes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To challenge the prevailing assumptions about how peripheral membrane proteins induce membrane curvature.
  • To present alternative mechanisms for lipid bilayer bending driven by protein interactions.

Main Methods:

  • Investigated clathrin protein scaffold assembly and its association with cellular membranes.
  • Analyzed membrane bending driven by protein-protein interactions and membrane crowding.

Main Results:

  • Specific assembly of clathrin scaffolds coupled to membranes emerged as a prevalent mechanism for lipid bilayer bending.
  • Membrane bending was observed to be driven by protein crowding, independent of protein insertion into the bilayer.

Conclusions:

  • The findings challenge the conventional view of protein-mediated membrane curvature induction.
  • Protein scaffold assembly and membrane crowding represent significant, potentially more common, mechanisms for shaping cellular membranes.