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Updated: Jun 15, 2025

Reconstitution of Membrane-Tethered Minimal Actin Cortices on Supported Lipid Bilayers
Published on: July 12, 2022
Coordination of force-generating actin-based modules stabilizes and remodels membranes in vivo
Marco Heydecker1,2, Akiko Shitara1,3, Desu Chen1
1Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Abstract:
Membrane remodeling drives a broad spectrum of cellular functions, and it is regulated through mechanical forces exerted on the membrane by cytoplasmic complexes. Here, we investigate how actin filaments dynamically tune their structure to control the active transfer of membranes between cellular compartments with distinct compositions and biophysical properties. Using intravital subcellular microscopy in live rodents we show that a lattice composed of linear filaments stabilizes the granule membrane after fusion with the plasma membrane and a network of branched filaments linked to the membranes by Ezrin, a regulator of membrane tension, initiates and drives to completion the integration step. Our results highlight how the actin cytoskeleton tunes its structure to adapt to dynamic changes in the biophysical properties of membranes.
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