期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2022
卷号：119
期号：1
DOI：10.1073/pnas.2107763119
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Significance
Cell division is an essential requirement for life. Division requires mechanical forces, often exerted by protein assemblies from the cell interior, that split a single cell into two. Using coarse-grained computer simulations and live cell imaging we define a distinct cell division mechanism—based on the forces generated by the supercoiling of an elastic filament as it disassembles. Our analysis suggests that such a mechanism could explain ESCRT-III–dependent division in
Sulfolobus cells, based on the similarity of the dynamics of division obtained in simulations to those observed using live cell imaging. In this way our study furthers our understanding of the physical mechanisms used to reshape cells across evolution and identifies additional design principles for a minimal division machinery.
Living systems propagate by undergoing rounds of cell growth and division. Cell division is at heart a physical process that requires mechanical forces, usually exerted by assemblies of cytoskeletal polymers. Here we developed a physical model for the ESCRT-III–mediated division of archaeal cells, which despite their structural simplicity share machinery and evolutionary origins with eukaryotes. By comparing the dynamics of simulations with data collected from live cell imaging experiments, we propose that this branch of life uses a previously unidentified division mechanism. Active changes in the curvature of elastic cytoskeletal filaments can lead to filament perversions and supercoiling, to drive ring constriction and deform the overlying membrane. Abscission is then completed following filament disassembly. The model was also used to explore how different adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-driven processes that govern the way the structure of the filament is changed likely impact the robustness and symmetry of the resulting division. Comparisons between midcell constriction dynamics in simulations and experiments reveal a good agreement with the process when changes in curvature are implemented at random positions along the filament, supporting this as a possible mechanism of ESCRT-III–dependent division in this system. Beyond archaea, this study pinpoints a general mechanism of cytokinesis based on dynamic coupling between a coiling filament and the membrane.
