Free energy calculations for membrane morphological transformations and insights to physical biology and oncology.

Methods Enzymol

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States. Electroni

Published: July 2024


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Article Abstract

In this chapter, we aim to bridge basic molecular and cellular principles surrounding membrane curvature generation with rewiring of cellular signals in cancer through multiscale models. We describe a general framework that integrates signaling with other cellular functions like trafficking, cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion, and motility. The guiding question in our approach is: how does a physical change in cell membrane configuration caused by external stimuli (including those by the extracellular microenvironment) alter trafficking, signaling and subsequent cell fate? We answer this question by constructing a modeling framework based on stochastic spatial continuum models of cell membrane deformations. We apply this framework to explore the link between trafficking, signaling in the tumor microenvironment, and cell fate. At each stage, we aim to connect the results of our predictions with cellular experiments.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11258396PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/bs.mie.2024.03.028DOI Listing

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