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Biophysics;
Abstract:
The MinDE protein system is a paradigm for molecular self-organization and pattern formation on membranes. In spite of intense research being done on MinDE dynamics in vivo and particularly in vitro, the exact molecular mechanisms of the nonlinear association/dissociation processes between the proteins and the membrane as a catalytic surface are still unknown. We have in the past years applied high-speed atomic force microscopy, single molecule TIR microscopy, and recently also mass photometry on that system and combined it with rational protein mutagenesis. This allowed us to arrive at stunning new insights into the complex design of this self-organizing machinery, which I will summarize here. These insights may in the future inform us about how to build synthetic pattern-forming systems on membranes from the bottom-up.
