Directing Min protein patterns with advective bulk flow

Sabrina Meindlhumer, Fridtjof Brauns, Jernej Rudi Finžgar, Jacob Kerssemakers, Cees Dekker, Erwin Frey*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)
27 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The Min proteins constitute the best-studied model system for pattern formation in cell biology. We theoretically predict and experimentally show that the propagation direction of in vitro Min protein patterns can be controlled by a hydrodynamic flow of the bulk solution. We find downstream propagation of Min wave patterns for low MinE:MinD concentration ratios, upstream propagation for large ratios, but multistability of both propagation directions in between. Whereas downstream propagation can be described by a minimal model that disregards MinE conformational switching, upstream propagation can be reproduced by a reduced switch model, where increased MinD bulk concentrations on the upstream side promote protein attachment. Our study demonstrates that a differential flow, where bulk flow advects protein concentrations in the bulk, but not on the surface, can control surface-pattern propagation. This suggests that flow can be used to probe molecular features and to constrain mathematical models for pattern-forming systems.

Original languageEnglish
Article number450
Number of pages10
JournalNature Communications
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

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