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Mechanisms for the formation of membranous nanostructures in cell-to-cell communication

2009; BioMed Central; Volume: 14; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2478/s11658-009-0018-0

1689-1392

Karin Schara, Vid Janša, Vid Šuštar, Drago Dolinar, Janez Pavlič, Maruša Lokar, Veronika Kralj‐Iglič, Peter Veranič, Aleš Iglič,

Cellular transport and secretion

Abstract Cells interact by exchanging material and information. Two methods of cell-to-cell communication are by means of microvesicles and by means of nanotubes. Both microvesicles and nanotubes derive from the cell membrane and are able to transport the contents of the inner solution. In this review, we describe two physical mechanisms involved in the formation of microvesicles and nanotubes: curvature-mediated lateral redistribution of membrane components with the formation of membrane nanodomains; and plasmamediated attractive forces between membranes. These mechanisms are clinically relevant since they can be affected by drugs. In particular, the underlying mechanism of heparin’s role as an anticoagulant and tumor suppressor is the suppression of microvesicluation due to plasma-mediated attractive interaction between membranes.