Fig. 5. Schematic of the proposed membrane-associated MinDE reaction cycle.

1. On nucleotide exchange from ADP to ATP, membrane-dependent dimerization of MinD is triggered. 2. On the membrane, lateral MinD interactions and recruitment of MinD subunits from solution lead to MinD higher-order structures that assemble through attachment of subunits at a location different from the canonical dimerization site. MinD assemblies then either dissociate from the membrane (3) or encounter MinE (4). MinE promotes the interconnection of very large heteromeric MinDE complexes that, due to their multivalent MTS structure, reside substantially longer on the membrane interface (5). 6. However, MinE also induces nucleotide-conversion of MinD subunits, thereby weakening the overall membrane avidity of the MinDE complex, before its full release from the membrane interface in complexes >350 kDa.