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Septin assemblies form by diffusion-driven annealing on membranes.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Bridges, AA; Zhang, H; Mehta, SB; Occhipinti, P; Tani, T; Gladfelter, AS
Published in: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
February 11, 2014

Septins assemble into filaments and higher-order structures that act as scaffolds for diverse cell functions including cytokinesis, cell polarity, and membrane remodeling. Despite their conserved role in cell organization, little is known about how septin filaments elongate and are knitted together into higher-order assemblies. Using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, we determined that cytosolic septins are in small complexes, suggesting that septin filaments are not formed in the cytosol. When the plasma membrane of live cells is monitored by total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, we see that septin complexes of variable size diffuse in two dimensions. Diffusing septin complexes collide and make end-on associations to form elongated filaments and higher-order structures, an assembly process we call annealing. Septin assembly by annealing can be reconstituted in vitro on supported lipid bilayers with purified septin complexes. Using the reconstitution assay, we show that septin filaments are highly flexible, grow only from free filament ends, and do not exchange subunits in the middle of filaments. This work shows that annealing is a previously unidentified intrinsic property of septins in the presence of membranes and demonstrates that cells exploit this mechanism to build large septin assemblies.

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Published In

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

Publication Date

February 11, 2014

Volume

111

Issue

6

Start / End Page

2146 / 2151

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Septins
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae
  • Protein Conformation
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence
  • Lipid Bilayers
  • Cytosol
  • Biopolymers
 

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Bridges, A. A., Zhang, H., Mehta, S. B., Occhipinti, P., Tani, T., & Gladfelter, A. S. (2014). Septin assemblies form by diffusion-driven annealing on membranes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 111(6), 2146–2151. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1314138111
Bridges, Andrew A., Huaiying Zhang, Shalin B. Mehta, Patricia Occhipinti, Tomomi Tani, and Amy S. Gladfelter. “Septin assemblies form by diffusion-driven annealing on membranes.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111, no. 6 (February 11, 2014): 2146–51. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1314138111.
Bridges AA, Zhang H, Mehta SB, Occhipinti P, Tani T, Gladfelter AS. Septin assemblies form by diffusion-driven annealing on membranes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Feb 11;111(6):2146–51.
Bridges, Andrew A., et al. “Septin assemblies form by diffusion-driven annealing on membranes.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, vol. 111, no. 6, Feb. 2014, pp. 2146–51. Pubmed, doi:10.1073/pnas.1314138111.
Bridges AA, Zhang H, Mehta SB, Occhipinti P, Tani T, Gladfelter AS. Septin assemblies form by diffusion-driven annealing on membranes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Feb 11;111(6):2146–2151.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

Publication Date

February 11, 2014

Volume

111

Issue

6

Start / End Page

2146 / 2151

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Septins
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae
  • Protein Conformation
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence
  • Lipid Bilayers
  • Cytosol
  • Biopolymers