3-D reconstruction of confocal images showing membrane tubes pulled from a giant unilamellar vesicle by kinesin motors along microtubules. The tube diameter is about 100 nm and the vesicle diameter about 15 μm. COURTESY OF CECILE LEDUC
In prokaryotic cells, simple diffusion is largely responsible for getting nutrients to where they need to be and for removing waste products. But eukaryotes, which are much more complex, require a specialized mass-transit system. This system consists of membrane-bound structures called transport carriers that ferry cargo into, out of, and around the cell. Over the past decade, our interest has centered on this system, particularly on the interplay between the biophysical properties of the membranes and the way in which these properties are exploited by specific biological molecules to construct and direct this transport system. It is an ideal topic for collaboration between a biologist and a physicist.
When we were first introduced to one another in 2000 by Jacques Prost, who was then director ...
