Speaker
Prof.
Pieter Rein ten Wolde
(AMOLF)
Description
Experiments in recent years have vividly demonstrated that
the membrane is a highly heterogenous environment. A key
example is the partitioning or clustering of proteins via
lipid domain formation or cytoskeleton-induced corralling.
In this talk, I will show using theory and computer
simulations that protein clustering can enhance biochemical
information transmission by removing correlations in the
signal and by linearizing the response. Yet, protein
partitioning can also impede signaling when the partitions
become too small. This trade-off leads to an optimal protein
cluster size that agrees quantitatively with experiment. Our
results suggest that molecular partitioning or clustering is
not merely a consequence of the complexity of subcellular
structures, but also plays an important functional role in
cell signaling.
Primary author
Prof.
Pieter Rein ten Wolde
(AMOLF)
