Abstract
Membrane fusion is ubiquitous in life. Fusion of biological membranes is mediated by specialized fusion proteins anchored to the bilayers destined to fuse. Here we describe these proteins as being instrumental in viral, intracellular and developmental fusion. Next, we review experimental and theoretical evidence that points to fusion in the different systems as following a common ‘fusion through hemifusion’ pathway. We also focus on the structure and dynamics of the transmembrane segment that anchors the fusion proteins to the bilayer, and its role in driving fusion. In particular, we highlight the influence of this single segment on the surrounding membrane lipids and on the overall shape of the membrane along the way to fusion.
About the authors
Joerg Nikolaus, born 1979, studied Biophysics at the Humboldt University in Berlin. During his PhD thesis in the group led by Andreas Herrmann he worked on lateral lipid domains and protein partition as well as on lipid bilayer fusion fueled by cations. He currently works as a postdoctoral fellow in the group of Molecular Biophysics in Berlin.
Andreas Herrmann, born 1953, has studied Biology at the Humboldt-University Berlin. After his PhD in the lab of Roland Glaser he studied transbilayer movement of lipids as a PostDoc at the Institute de Biologie Physico-Chimique (lab Philippe Devaux) and membrane fusion at the NIH in Bethesda (lab Robert Blumenthal) on membrane fusion. In 1991 he was appointed as a Professor of Molecular Biophysics at Humboldt-University. He is speaker of the Integrative Research Institute of Life Sciences. His research focus is on molecular mechanisms of cell entry and exit of enveloped viruses.
©2012 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
