Giant plasma membrane vesicles to study plasma membrane structure and dynamics.

Sezgin E

Biochim Biophys Acta Biomembr 1864 (4) 183857 [2022-04-01; online 2022-01-04]

The plasma membrane (PM) is a highly heterogenous structure intertwined with the cortical actin cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix. This complex architecture makes it difficult to study the processes taking place at the PM. Model membrane systems that are simple mimics of the PM overcome this bottleneck and allow us to study the biophysical principles underlying the processes at the PM. Among them, cell-derived giant plasma membrane vesicles (GPMVs) are considered the most physiologically relevant system, retaining the compositional complexity of the PM to a large extent. GPMVs have become a key tool in membrane research in the last few years. In this review, I will provide a brief overview of this system, summarize recent applications and discuss the limitations.

Erdinc Sezgin

SciLifeLab Fellow

PubMed 34990591

DOI 10.1016/j.bbamem.2021.183857

Crossref 10.1016/j.bbamem.2021.183857

pii: S0005-2736(21)00306-0


Publications 9.5.0