Flow arrest in the plasma membrane

Abstract

The arrangement of receptors in the plasma membrane strongly affects the ability of a cell to sense its environment both in terms of sensitivity and in terms of spatial resolution. The spatial and temporal arrangement of the receptors is affected in turn by the mechanical properties and the structure of the cell membrane. Here we focus on characterizing the flow of the membrane in response to the motion of a protein embedded in it. We do so by measuring the correlated diffusion of extracellularly tagged transmembrane neurotrophin receptors TrkB and p75 on transfected neuronal cells. In accord with previous reports, we find that the motion of single receptors exhibits transient confinement to sub-micron domains. We confirm predictions based on hydrodynamics of fluid membranes, finding long-range correlations in the motion of the receptors in the plasma membrane. However, we discover that these correlations do not persist for long ranges, as predicted, but decay exponentially, with a typical decay length on the scale of the average confining domain size.

Patterning and polarization of cells by intracellular flows

“…Lipid flow has also been proposed to account for long-range communication of mechanical cues across the length of the cell through propagation of membrane tension [30,31]. However, recent measurements revealed that tension fails to propagate over distances greater than 5 µm [37], suggesting that the situation in cells is more complex, most likely due to the large numbers of transmembrane proteins that are immobilized through connections to the underlying actin cortex or external matrix which would hinder lipid flow [38,39].…”

Imaging FCS Delineates Subtle Heterogeneity in Plasma Membranes of Resting Mast Cells

“…These nanodomains exist within the inner and outer leaflets of the plasma membrane and are surrounded by regions of Ld-preferring lipids and proteins; protein complexes may exist in both regions. We posit that diffusion of lipid-anchored probes is relatively faster in Ld-like membrane environments and retarded by their dynamic partitioning into the proteolipid nanodomains, thereby undergoing cycles of free and retarded diffusion (14,17,29)…”

“…Co-existence of membrane structures that facilitate spatial compartmentalization underlies the hierarchal model proposed by Kusumi and colleagues, based primarily on their extensive ultrahigh-speed single particle tracking (SPT) and scanning electron microscopy measurements, with additional features drawn from complementary studies in other laboratories ( Figure 1A) (24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29). The hierarchal model builds on membrane compartments (corrals; nm) defined by the long chain actin meshwork (fence) with anchored transmembrane proteins (pickets).…”

Imaging FCS delineates subtle heterogeneity in plasma membranes of resting mast cells

“…Coexistence of membrane structures that facilitate spatial compartmentalization underlies the "hierarchal model" proposed by Kusumi and colleagues, based primarily on their extensive ultra-high-speed single particle tracking (SPT) and scanning electron microscopy measurements, with additional features drawn from complementary studies in other laboratories (Figure 1A; Wieser et al, 2007;Kusumi et al, 2011Kusumi et al, , 2012aAndrade et al, 2015;Sadegh et al, 2017;Chein et al, 2019). The hierarchal model builds on membrane compartments (corrals; 40-230 nm) defined by the long-chain actin meshwork (fence) with anchored transmembrane proteins (pickets).…”