慕尼黑路德维希马克西米利安大学Erwin Frey小组的一项最新研究揭示了有效界面张力产生的蛋白质模式形态和动力学。2025年12月2日，国际知名学术期刊《自然—物理学》发表了这一成果。
在这里，该课题组人员发现了一种产生有效界面张力的一般机制，该机制组织了非平衡稳态模式的宏观结构。也就是说，通过循环蛋白的附着和脱离来维持蛋白质密度界面，产生曲率依赖的蛋白质重新分布，从而使界面变直。课题组人员开发了一个非平衡诺伊曼角定律和平台顶点条件的界面连接和网格模式，他们引入了“图灵混合物”和“图灵泡沫”的概念。与液体泡沫和混合物相比，这些非平衡模式可以通过中断类似平衡的粗化过程来选择固有波长。大肠杆菌蛋白体系的体外实验数据验证了顶点条件并支持波长动力学。他们的研究表明，与热力学关系相对应的界面定律是如何从活性系统的不同物理过程中产生的。它允许设计具有潜在应用的特定模式形态，作为合成细胞的空间控制策略。
据介绍，对于细胞分裂和极化等功能，NTPase周期驱动的蛋白质模式形成是一个中心的空间控制策略。在远离平衡状态的情况下，没有一般的理论将微观反应网络和参数与这些蛋白质系统的模式类型和动力学联系起来。
附：英文原文
Title: Protein pattern morphology and dynamics emerging from effective interfacial tension
Author: Weyer, Henrik, Roth, Tobias A., Frey, Erwin
Issue&Volume: 2025-12-02
Abstract: For cellular functions such as division and polarization, protein pattern formation driven by NTPase cycles is a central spatial control strategy. Operating far from equilibrium, no general theory links microscopic reaction networks and parameters to the pattern type and dynamics in these protein systems. Here we discover a generic mechanism giving rise to an effective interfacial tension organizing the macroscopic structure of non-equilibrium steady-state patterns. Namely, maintaining protein-density interfaces by cyclic protein attachment and detachment produces curvature-dependent protein redistribution, which straightens the interface. We develop a non-equilibrium Neumann angle law and Plateau vertex conditions for interface junctions and mesh patterns, thus introducing the concepts of ‘Turing mixtures’ and ‘Turing foams’. In contrast to liquid foams and mixtures, these non-equilibrium patterns can select an intrinsic wavelength by interrupting an equilibrium-like coarsening process. Data from in vitro experiments with the Escherichia coli Min protein system verify the vertex conditions and support the wavelength dynamics. Our study shows how interface laws with correspondence to thermodynamic relations can arise from distinct physical processes in active systems. It allows the design of specific pattern morphologies with potential applications as spatial control strategies in synthetic cells.
DOI: 10.1038/s41567-025-03101-6
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-025-03101-6