Asymmetric tethering of flat and curved lipid membranes by a golgin.

Drin, Guillaume; Morello, Vincent; Casella, Jean-François; Gounon, Pierre; Antonny, Bruno · Science · 2008

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Golgins, long stringlike proteins, tether cisternae and transport vesicles at the Golgi apparatus. We examined the attachment of golgin GMAP-210 to lipid membranes. GMAP-210 connected highly curved liposomes to flatter ones. This asymmetric tethering relied on motifs that sensed membrane curvature both in the N terminus of GMAP-210 and in ArfGAP1, which controlled the interaction of the C terminus of GMAP-210 with the small guanine nucleotide-binding protein Arf1. Because membrane curvature constantly changes during vesicular trafficking, this mode of tethering suggests a way to maintain the Golgi architecture without compromising membrane flow.

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