Determine the invagination-to-growth rate ratio (k_i/k_g) for clathrin coat invagination

Determine the ratio k_i/k_g between the invagination rate k_i and the area growth rate k_g governing clathrin coat invagination, and develop a method to infer these rates from experimental structural datasets of clathrin-coated pits, so that k_i/k_g need not be treated as a free parameter in the energetic and kinetic models.

Background

In the energetic framework linking coat curvature dynamics to energy gradients, the authors introduce an invagination rate (k_i) and an area growth rate (k_g) to scale the dynamics of curvature. Because their analysis relies on static structural snapshots ordered by invagination angle rather than direct time-resolved measurements, they cannot extract these rates from the available data and therefore treat the ratio k_i/k_g as a free parameter.

A precise determination of k_i and k_g (or their ratio) would strengthen the mechanistic grounding of the cooperative curvature model (CoopCM) and the energetic description, enabling parameter-free predictions of curvature evolution and clarifying the timescale coupling between coat growth and invagination.