Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting| Padova 2019

Quantitative Aspects of Membrane Fusion and Fission

Tuesday Speaker Abstracts

CURVATURE GENERATION BY ENDOCYTIC CLATHRIN COATS Comert Kural ; 1 Ohio State University, Physics, Columbus, Ohio, USA

Clathrin coat assembly at the plasma membrane constitutes the major cellular internalization route for receptors and their ligands. Sculpturing a flat patch of membrane into an endocytic vesicle requires curvature formation on the cell surface, which is the primary function of endocytic protein complexes. The mechanism through which membrane curvature is imposed during formation of endocytic vesicles is still a subject of confusion and controversy. Using super-resolved live cell fluorescence imaging, we demonstrate that curvature generation by clathrin-coated pits can be detected in real time within cultured cells and tissues of metazoan organisms. Curvature is already generated when clathrin-coated pits reach the maximum projected area. These findings rule out the possibility of a previously proposed flat-to-curved transition during late stages of clathrin-coated pit formation. Therefore, curvature generation by clathrin-coated pits does not necessitate a dynamically unstable clathrin lattice.

21