A Schwede

A Singer

BD Hughes

CG Grünfelder

D Gunzel

D Morozova

DM Soumpasis

E Evans

EP Petrov

F Pinaud

F Zhang

G Guigas

GJ Doherty

JE Goose

K Simons

KA Jacobson

M Engstler

M Frick

M Howarth

MW Clarke

P Overath

PG Saffman

R Bülow

R Phair

S Wieser

TO Frommel

Scientific Reports

AbstractA plethora of proteins undergo random and passive diffusion in biological membranes. While the contribution of the membrane-embedded domain to diffusion is well established, the potential impact of the extra-membrane protein part has been largely neglected. Here, we show that the molecular length influences the diffusion coefficient of GPI-anchored proteins: smaller proteins diffuse faster than larger ones. The distinct diffusion properties of differently sized membrane proteins are biologically relevant. The variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) of African trypanosomes, for example, is sized for an effective diffusion-driven randomization on the cell surface, a process that is essential for parasite virulence. We propose that the molecular sizes of proteins dominating the cell surfaces of other eukaryotic pathogens may also be related to diffusion-limited functions.</jats:p

Andreas J. W. Hartel

Marius Glogger

Gernot Guigas

Nicola G. Jones

Susanne F. Fenz

Matthias Weiss

Markus Engstler

Crossref

The molecular size of the extra-membrane domain influences the diffusion of the GPI-anchored VSG on the trypanosome plasma membrane

The molecular size of the extra-membrane domain influences the diffusion of the GPI-anchored VSG on the trypanosome plasma membrane

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Crossref