Issue 7, 2011

Microtubule nanospool formation by active self-assembly is not initiated by thermal activation

Abstract

Biotinylated microtubules partially coated with streptavidin and gliding on a surface coated with kinesin motors can cross-link with each other and assemble into nanospools with a diameter of a few micrometres. The size distribution of these nanospools is determined, and it is shown with simulations of microtubule gliding that these spools are too small to be formed by thermally activated turns in the gliding direction (a Brownian ratchet mechanism). Instead, spool formation is primarily the result of two processes: pinning of gliding microtubules to inactive motors and simultaneous cross-linking of multiple microtubules.

Graphical abstract: Microtubule nanospool formation by active self-assembly is not initiated by thermal activation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Aug 2010
Accepted
18 Nov 2010
First published
08 Dec 2010

Soft Matter, 2011,7, 3108-3115

Microtubule nanospool formation by active self-assembly is not initiated by thermal activation

I. Luria, J. Crenshaw, M. Downs, A. Agarwal, S. B. Seshadri, J. Gonzales, O. Idan, J. Kamcev, P. Katira, S. Pandey, T. Nitta, S. R. Phillpot and H. Hess, Soft Matter, 2011, 7, 3108 DOI: 10.1039/C0SM00802H

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