Response to Halatek and Frey: Effective two-dimensional model does account for geometry sensing by self-organized proteins patterns

TL;DR

This paper defends an effective two-dimensional model for Min protein wave patterns on lipid bilayers, demonstrating its ability to replicate observed behaviors and addressing critiques about the role of geometry and dimensionality.

Contribution

The authors show that their effective 2D model accurately reproduces Min protein patterns and that a 3D version yields similar results, countering previous critiques.

Findings

2D model reproduces observed patterns on membrane patches

3D model produces similar patterns on square patches

Effective modeling accounts for geometry sensing by proteins

Abstract

The Min proteins from Escherichia coli can self-organize into traveling waves on supported lipid bilayers. In Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 109, 15283 (2012) we showed that these waves are guided along the boundaries of membrane patches. We introduced an effective two-dimensional model reproducing the observed patterns. In arXiv:1403.5934v1, Jacob Halatek and Erwin Frey contest the ability of our effective two-dimensional model to describe the dynamics of Min proteins on patterned supported lipid bilayers. We thank Halatek and Frey for their interest in our work and for again highlighting the importance of dimensionality and geometry for pattern formation by the Min proteins. Here we reply in detail to the objections by Halatek and Frey and show that (1) our effective two-dimensional model reproduces the observed patterns on isolated patches and that (2) a three-dimensional version of our model produces similar patterns on square patches.