Figure 7
Full rings and arc‐shaped assemblies of Bax are associated with membrane pores, as visualized by AFM
- AFM image of a control SLB prepared from LUVs with a mitochondrial‐like lipid composition. The bilayer looks flat, without aggregates or defects. Scale bar, 1 μm.
- AFM image of a SLB prepared from LUVs with a mitochondrial‐like lipid composition pre‐incubated with heat‐activated Bax. The green arrowheads indicate the presence of membrane pores, which are heterogeneous in size and shape. The edges of the pores present protrusions corresponding to Bax clusters. Scale bar, 1 μm.
- 3D AFM topography of a Bax arc (left) and ring (right). Both images reveal a circular dark hole that spans the lipid membrane (green). Bax molecules around the pore rim (magenta and white) protrude 3.97 ± 1.02 nm above the membrane plane, as confirmed by the height profiles shown below each image (corresponding to the white line in the 2D image insets). The topography of the arc structure reveals a pore only partially surrounded by Bax molecules, while lipids alone form the rest of the pore rim. Images are shown in a 42° tilted representation.
- Quantitative analysis of the distinct structures found for activated Bax on SLBs. Data show the total number of structures in all the measurements.
Data information: If not differently specified, the scale bar in all the images is 100 nm.