2018/11/30 by Marco Zamparo, Donatella Valdembri, Guido Serini +8
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Chemistry · Engineering · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Algorithm #Biological system #Biology #Chemical physics #Chemistry #Computer science #Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior #Materials science #Mathematics #Molecule #Nanopore and Nanochannel Transport Studies #Nucleation #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Realization (probability) #Simple (philosophy) #Sorting #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies #Statistical physics #Statistics #Thermodynamics #Vesicle #cond-mat.soft #cond-mat.stat-mech #q-bio.QM #q-bio.SC
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.126.088101
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 088101 (2021)
arxiv created 2021/02/01 · openalex publication_date 2021/02/23 · arxiv updated 2021/03/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We introduce a simple physical picture to explain the process of molecular sorting, whereby specific proteins are concentrated and distilled into submicrometric lipid vesicles in eukaryotic cells. To this purpose, we formulate a model based on the coupling of spontaneous molecular aggregation with vesicle nucleation. Its implications are studied by means of a phenomenological theory describing the diffusion of molecules toward multiple sorting centers that grow due to molecule absorption and are extracted when they reach a sufficiently large size. The predictions of the theory are compared with numerical simulations of a lattice-gas realization of the model and with experimental observations. The efficiency of the distillation process is found to be optimal for intermediate aggregation rates, where the density of sorted molecules is minimal and the process obeys simple scaling laws. Quantitative measures of endocytic sorting performed in primary endothelial cells are compatible with the hypothesis that these optimal conditions are realized in living cells.