Department of Biological Sciences, PO Box 2408, Columbia University, Sherman Fairchild Center, 1212 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA. ms2001@columbia.edu
The rates of mechanochemical processes, such as endocytosis, membrane extension and membrane resealing after cell wounding, are known to be controlled biochemically, through interaction with regulatory proteins. Here, I propose that these rates are also controlled physically, through an apparently continuous adhesion between plasma membrane lipids and cytoskeletal proteins.