The Long and Viscous Road: Uncovering Nuclear Diffusion Barriers in Closed Mitosis
Figure 2
Sphingolipids self-organize into tightly packed, rigid and thicker domains within membranes.
The increased viscosity within these domains causes membrane-bound proteins to diffuse at a lower rate. Moreover, the phase change at the boundary between the domain and the rest of the membrane may work against proteins trying to diffuse into the domain. We call this effect the protein exclusion effect. Measures indicated are: , diameter of membrane inclusions;
, thickness of diffusive media (membranes and periplasm);
, bulk viscosities (measured in [Pa][s]);
, surface viscosities (measured in [Pa][s][m]); Pin and Pout, probability of proteins diffusing into and out of the sphingolipid domain, respectively.