Abstract
Disruption of the cell plasma membrane is a commonplace occurrence in many mechanically challenging, biological environments. 'Resealing' is the emergency response required for cell survival. Resealing is triggered by Ca2+ entering through the disruption; this causes vesicles present in cytoplasm underlying the disruption site to fuse rapidly with one another (homotypically) and also with the adjacent plasma membrane (heterotypically/exocytotically). The large vesicular products of homotypic fusion are added as a reparative 'patch' across the disruption, when its resealing requires membrane replacement. The simultaneous activation of the local cytoskeleton supports these membrane fusion events. Resealing is clearly a complex and dynamic cell adaptation, and, and as we emphasize here, may be an evolutionarily primitive one that arose shortly after the ancestral eukaryote lost its protective cell wall.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | E124-E129 |
Journal | Nature Cell Biology |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2001 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cell Biology