Binding constant of cell adhesion receptors and substrate-immobilized ligands depends on the distribution of ligands

Long Li, Jinglei Hu, Guangkui Xu, and Fan Song
Phys. Rev. E 97, 012405 – Published 16 January 2018

Abstract

Cell-cell adhesion and the adhesion of cells to tissues and extracellular matrix, which are pivotal for immune response, tissue development, and cell locomotion, depend sensitively on the binding constant of receptor and ligand molecules anchored on the apposing surfaces. An important question remains of whether the immobilization of ligands affects the affinity of binding with cell adhesion receptors. We have investigated the adhesion of multicomponent membranes to a flat substrate coated with immobile ligands using Monte Carlo simulations of a statistical mesoscopic model with biologically relevant parameters. We find that the binding of the adhesion receptors to ligands immobilized on the substrate is strongly affected by the ligand distribution. In the case of ligand clusters, the receptor-ligand binding constant can be significantly enhanced due to the less translational entropy loss of lipid-raft domains in the model cell membranes upon the formation of additional complexes. For ligands randomly or uniformly immobilized on the substrate, the binding constant is rather decreased since the receptors localized in lipid-raft domains have to pay an energetic penalty in order to bind ligands. Our findings help to understand why cell-substrate adhesion experiments for measuring the impact of lipid rafts on the receptor-ligand interactions led to contradictory results.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
3 More
  • Received 2 November 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.97.012405

©2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Physics of Living Systems

Authors & Affiliations

Long Li1, Jinglei Hu2,3,*, Guangkui Xu4, and Fan Song1,5,†

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics (LNM) and Beijing Key Laboratory of Engineered Construction and Mechanobiology, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  • 2Kuang Yaming Honors School, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
  • 3Shenzhen Institute of Research, Nanjing University, Shenzhen 518057, China
  • 4School of Aerospace, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
  • 5School of Engineering Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

  • *hujinglei@nju.edu.cn
  • songf@lnm.imech.ac.cn

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 97, Iss. 1 — January 2018

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review E

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×