Septin assemblies promote the lipid organization of membranes

Abstract

Cytoskeletal-mediated membrane compartmentalization is essential to support cellular functions, from signaling to cell division, migration, or phagocytosis. Septins are cytoskeletal proteins that directly interact with membranes, acting as scaffolds to recruit proteins to cellular locations and as structural diffusion barriers. How septins interact with and remodel the lipid organization of membranes is unclear. Here, we combined minimal reconstituted systems and yeast cell imaging to study septin-mediated membrane organization. Our results show that at low concentrations membrane-diffusive septins self-assemble into sub-micrometric patches that co-exist with the septin collar at the division site. We found that patches are made of short septin filaments and that are able to modulate the lipid organization of membranes. Furthermore, we show that the polybasic domain of Cdc11 influences the membrane-organizing and curvature-sensing properties of septins. Collectively, our work provides understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which septins can support cellular functions intimately linked to membranes.