@article{14844,
  abstract     = {Many cell functions require a concerted effort from multiple membrane proteins, for example, for signaling, cell division, and endocytosis. One contribution to their successful self-organization stems from the membrane deformations that these proteins induce. While the pairwise interaction potential of two membrane-deforming spheres has recently been measured, membrane-deformation-induced interactions have been predicted to be nonadditive, and hence their collective behavior cannot be deduced from this measurement. We here employ a colloidal model system consisting of adhesive spheres and giant unilamellar vesicles to test these predictions by measuring the interaction potential of the simplest case of three membrane-deforming, spherical particles. We quantify their interactions and arrangements and, for the first time, experimentally confirm and quantify the nonadditive nature of membrane-deformation-induced interactions. We furthermore conclude that there exist two favorable configurations on the membrane: (1) a linear and (2) a triangular arrangement of the three spheres. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we corroborate the experimentally observed energy minima and identify a lowering of the membrane deformation as the cause for the observed configurations. The high symmetry of the preferred arrangements for three particles suggests that arrangements of many membrane-deforming objects might follow simple rules.},
  author       = {Azadbakht, Ali and Meadowcroft, Billie and Majek, Juraj and Šarić, Anđela and Kraft, Daniela J.},
  issn         = {1542-0086},
  journal      = {Biophysical Journal},
  publisher    = {Elsevier},
  title        = {{Nonadditivity in interactions between three membrane-wrapped colloidal spheres}},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.bpj.2023.12.020},
  year         = {2023},
}