Mechanisms of Membrane Curvature Generation in Membrane Traffic

During the vesicular trafficking process, cellular membranes undergo dynamic morphological changes, in particular at the vesicle generation and fusion steps. Changes in membrane shape are regulated by small GTPases, coat proteins and other accessory proteins, such as BAR domain-containing proteins. In addition, membrane deformation entails changes in the lipid composition as well as asymmetric distribution of lipids over the two leaflets of the membrane bilayer. Given that P4-ATPases, which catalyze unidirectional flipping of lipid molecules from the exoplasmic to the cytoplasmic leaflets of the bilayer, are crucial for the trafficking of proteins in the secretory and endocytic pathways, changes in the lipid composition are involved in the vesicular trafficking process. Membrane remodeling is under complex regulation that involves the composition and distribution of lipids as well as assembly of proteins

A simply connected surface of general type with p_g=0 and K^2=3

Motivated by a recent result of Y. Lee and the second author[7], we construct a simply connected minimal complex surface of general type with p_g=0 and K^2=3 using a rational blow-down surgery and Q-Gorenstein smoothing theory. In a similar fashion, we also construct a new simply connected symplectic 4-manifold with b_2^+=1 and K^2=4.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, a section regarding a symplectic 4-manifold with K^2=4 is adde

Membrane Fuzzy Sphere Dynamics in Plane-Wave Matrix Model

In plane-wave matrix model, the membrane fuzzy sphere extended in the SO(3) symmetric space is allowed to have periodic motion on a sub-plane in the SO(6) symmetric space. We consider a background configuration composed of two such fuzzy spheres moving on the same sub-plane and the one-loop quantum corrections to it. The one-loop effective action describing the fuzzy sphere interaction is computed up to the sub-leading order in the limit that the mean distance $r$ between two fuzzy spheres is very large. We show that the leading order interaction is of the 1/r^7 type and thus the membrane fuzzy spheres interpreted as giant gravitons really behave as gravitons.Comment: 28 pages, LaTeX2e, 1 figure, 1 tabl

Thermodynamics of Fuzzy Spheres in PP-wave Matrix Model

We discuss thermodynamics of fuzzy spheres in a matrix model on a pp-wave background. The exact free energy in the fuzzy sphere vacuum is computed in the \mu -> \infty limit for an arbitrary matrix size N. The trivial vacuum dominates the fuzzy sphere vacuum at low temperature while the fuzzy sphere vacuum is more stable than the trivial vacuum at sufficiently high temperature. Our result supports that the fluctuations around the trivial vacuum would condense to form an irreducible fuzzy sphere above a certain temperature.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, LaTeX2

Thermodynamic Behavior of Fuzzy Membranes in PP-Wave Matrix Model

We discuss a two-body interaction of membrane fuzzy spheres in a pp-wave matrix model at finite temperature by considering a fuzzy sphere rotates with a constant radius r around the other one sitting at the origin in the SO(6) symmetric space. This system of two fuzzy spheres is supersymmetric at zero temperature and there is no interaction between them. Once the system is coupled to the heat bath, supersymmetries are completely broken and non-trivial interaction appears. We numerically show that the potential between fuzzy spheres is attractive and so the rotating fuzzy sphere tends to fall into the origin. The analytic formula of the free energy is also evaluated in the large N limit. It is well approximated by a polylog-function.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, LaTe

ATPase reaction cycle of P4-ATPases affects their transport from the endoplasmic reticulum

P4‐ATPases belonging to the P‐type ATPase superfamily mediate active transport of phospholipids across cellular membranes. Most P4‐ATPases, except ATP9A and ATP9B proteins, form heteromeric complexes with CDC50 proteins, which are required for transport of P4‐ATPases from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to their final destinations. P‐type ATPases form autophosphorylated intermediates during the ATPase reaction cycle. However, the association of the catalytic cycle of P4‐ATPases with their transport from the ER and their cellular localization has not been studied. Here, we show that transport of ATP9 and ATP11 proteins as well as that of ATP10A from the ER depends on the ATPase catalytic cycle, suggesting that conformational changes in P4‐ATPases during the catalytic cycle are crucial for their transport from the ER