DivIVA is a conserved protein in Gram-positive bacteria and involved in various processes related to cell growth, cell division and spore formation. DivIVA is specifically targeted to cell division sites and cell poles. In Bacillus subtilis , DivIVA helps to localise other proteins, such as the conserved cell division inhibitor proteins, MinC/MinD, and the chromosome segregation protein, RacA. Little is known about the mechanism that localises DivIVA. Here we show that DivIVA binds to liposomes, and that the N terminus harbours the membrane targeting sequence. The purified protein can stimulate binding of RacA to membranes. In mutants with aberrant cell shapes, DivIVA accumulates where the cell membrane is most strongly curved. On the basis of electron microscopic studies and other data, we propose that this is due to molecular bridging of the curvature by DivIVA multimers. This model may explain why DivIVA localises at cell division sites. A Monte-Carlo simulation study showed that molecular bridging can be a general mechanism for binding of proteins to negatively curved membranes.

IntroductionOptical techniques are routinely used to size and count extracellular vesicles (EV). For comparison of data from different methods and laboratories, suitable calibrators are essential. A suitable calibrator must have a refractive index (RI) as close to that of EV as possible but the RI of EV is currently unknown. To measure EV, RI requires accurate knowledge of size and light scattering. These are difficult to measure as most EVs cannot be resolved by light microscopy and their diameter is smaller than the wavelength of visible light. However, nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) provides both size and relative light scattering intensity (rLSI) values. We therefore sought to determine whether it was possible to use NTA to measure the RI of individual EVs.MethodsNTA was used to measure the rLSI and size of polystyrene and silica microspheres of known size and RI (1.470 and 1.633, respectively) and of EV isolated from a wide range of cells. We developed software, based on Mie scattering code, to calculate particle RI from the rLSI data. This modelled theoretical scattering intensities for polystyrene and silica microspheres of known size (100 and 200 nm) and RI. The model was verified using data from the polystyrene and silica microspheres. Size and rLSI data for each vesicle were processed by the software to generate RI values.ResultsThe following modal RI measurements were obtained: fresh urinary EV 1.374, lyophilised urinary EV 1.367, neuroblastoma EV 1.393, blood EV 1.398, EV from activated platelets 1.390, small placental EV 1.364–1.375 and 1.398–1.414 for large placental EV (>200 nm). Large placental EV had a significantly higher RI than small placental EV (p<0.0001). The spread of RI values was narrower for small EV than for the more heterogeneous large EV.DiscussionUsing NTA and Mie scattering theory, we have demonstrated that it is possible to estimate the RI of sub-micron EV using NTA data. EV typically had a modal RI of 1.37–1.39, whereas values of >1.40 were observed for some large (>200 nm) microvesicles.ConclusionThis method for measuring EV RI will be useful for developing appropriate calibrators for EV measurement.

Amyloid accumulation is associated with pathological conditions, including type II diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. Lipids influence amyloidogenesis and are themselves targets for amyloid-mediated cell membrane disruption. Amyloid precursors are surface-active, accumulating at hydrophobic-hydrophilic interfaces (e.g., air-water), where their biophysical and kinetic behaviors differ from those in the bulk solution with significant and underappreciated consequences. Biophysical modeling predicted the probability and rate of beta-sheet amyloid dimer formation to be higher and faster at the air-water interface (AWI) than in the bulk (by 14 and approximately 1500 times, respectively). Time-course staining experiments with a typical amyloid dye verified our predictions by demonstrating that without AWI, islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) fibrilization was abolished or slowed, depending on the conditions. Our controls included undisturbed IAPP reactions, and we ascertained that the AWI removal process (technical or material) did not itself affect the reaction. Furthermore, we showed that the role of membranes in amyloidogenesis has been previously underestimated; in an in vivo-like situation (with no AWI), anionic liposomes (containing dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol) enhanced IAPP fibrilogenesis far more than described previously in conventional assay conditions (in the presence of an AWI). These findings have implications for the protein misfolding field and in assay design to target toxic protein aggregation.

Background: Macromolecular crowding and hydrophobic-hydrophilic interfaces promote amyloidogenesis. Results: The outcome of macromolecular crowding on A␤ amyloidogenesis depends on the spatial heterogeneity of the system. Conclusion: Viscosity dominates over the excluded volume effect only when the system contains a hydrophobic-hydrophilic interface. Significance: Studying both interfacial and macromolecular crowding effects together is crucial to understand amyloid systems in a physiological context.