Reversible membrane deformations by straight DNA origami filaments

Membrane-active cytoskeletal elements, such as FtsZ, septin or actin, form filamentous polymers able to induce and stabilize curvature on cellular membranes. In order to emulate the characteristic dynamic self-assembly properties of cytoskeletal subunits in vitro , biomimetic synthetic scaffolds wer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Soft matter 2021-01, Vol.17 (2), p.276-287
Main Authors: Franquelim, Henri G, Dietz, Hendrik, Schwille, Petra
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Actin
Biomimetics
Cell membranes
Cytoskeleton
Deformation
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Depolymerization
DNA
Filaments
Fluorescence
Fluorescence microscopy
Magnesium chloride
Membrane vesicles
Membranes
Microtubules
Mimicry
Polymerization
Polymers
Scaffolds
Self-assembly
Septin
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Summary:Membrane-active cytoskeletal elements, such as FtsZ, septin or actin, form filamentous polymers able to induce and stabilize curvature on cellular membranes. In order to emulate the characteristic dynamic self-assembly properties of cytoskeletal subunits in vitro , biomimetic synthetic scaffolds were here developed using DNA origami. In contrast to our earlier work with pre-curved scaffolds, we specifically assessed the potential of origami mimicking straight filaments, such as actin and microtubules, by origami presenting cholesteryl anchors for membrane binding and additional blunt end stacking interactions for controllable polymerization into linear filaments. By assessing the interaction of our DNA nanostructures with model membranes using fluorescence microscopy, we show that filaments can be formed, upon increasing MgCl 2 in solution, for structures displaying blunt ends; and can subsequently depolymerize, by decreasing the concentration of MgCl 2 . Distinctive spike-like membrane protrusions were generated on giant unilamellar vesicles at high membrane-bound filament densities, and the presence of such deformations was reversible and shown to correlate with the MgCl 2 -triggered polymerization of DNA origami subunits into filamentous aggregates. In the end, our approach reveals the formation of membrane-bound filaments as a minimal requirement for membrane shaping by straight cytoskeletal-like objects. Reversible MgCl 2 -induced blunt-end polymerization of membrane-bound straight DNA origami monomers into filaments leads to protruding deformations on freestanding lipid membranes.
ISSN:1744-683X
1744-6848
DOI:10.1039/d0sm00150c