https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-024-01106-5
Review
Navigating the mechanistic pathways of membrane fusion: the lipid perspective
School of Chemistry, Sambalpur University, Jyoti Vihar, 768019, Burla, Odisha, India
a hirakchakraborty@gmail.com, hirak@suniv.ac.in
Received:
14
November
2023
Accepted:
22
January
2024
Published online:
15
February
2024
Membrane fusion is an essential process for the survival of eukaryotes and entry of the enveloped viruses. Fusion machines (proteins) and membrane lipids play their intricate role in a concerted way to complete the process with precision and speed. The in vitro study of fusion does not match the kinetics of biological fusion, nonetheless, it provides molecular details of the process. The fusion proteins are more celebrated due to their obvious role in catalyzing the process, but the lipids are also important as they provide the platform for the process. Lipid composition provides the membrane organization, dynamics, and overall physical properties to the membrane, which are crucial for the lamellar to nonlamellar to lamellar reorganization during fusion. The current review discusses the prospective roles of the players in fusion with a special emphasis on lipidic shape, chain unsaturation, membrane physical properties, water percolation at the acyl chain region, and membrane domain.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
