The role of Adhesion on the Mechanics of Budding and Virus Progeny Formation

Mattia Bacca

Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver - Canada

Thursday 1st September 2022

14:00:00

Live: Aula Saleri, MOX - Dipartimento di Matematica - Politecnico di Milano
Online: https://mox.polimi.it/mox-seminars/?id_evento=2182

Budding is the main process by which a cell externalizes material and also the main mechanism of virus reproduction [1]. It requires the cell membrane to wrap around a cargo to conform to its surface. The cargo surface (CS), e.g. the nucleocapsid of a virus, defines the shape and size of the bud, thereby providing an important geometrical constraint. The cargo can be described with rigid sphere, with its radius defining the energetic barrier crated by cell membrane bending and stretching. The energetic driving force is then provided by the affinity of the membrane with the CS [2-3]. The tradeoff between bending energy and surface energy provides the minimum radius of the bud that can be successfully completed, hence the minimum size of the virus progeny.
References:
[1] N.J. Dimmock et al. (2007) "Introduction to Modern Virology, 6th edition." Blackwell Publishing.
[2] H. Gao, W. Shi, L.B. Freund (2005), “Mechanics of receptor-mediated endocytosis”, PNAS 102 (27), 9469–9474.
[3] D. Agostinelli, G.J. Elfring, M. Bacca (2021), “Morphological control of receptor-mediated endocytosis”, bioRxiv 2021.10.01.462837.