Force generation by microtubule assembly/disassembly in mitosis and related movements.
In this article, we review the dynamic nature of the filaments (microtubules) that make up the labile fibers of the mitotic spindle and asters, we discuss the roles that assembly and disassembly of microtubules play in mitosis, and we consider how such assembling and disassembling polymer filaments can generate forces that are utilized by the living cell in mitosis and related movements.
Inoué
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Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA.
Salmon
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D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D018386:Kinetochores / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008870:Microtubules / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008938:Mitosis; D008954:Models, Biological; D008961:Models, Structural