title: Flexural rigidity of individual microtubules measured by a buckling force with optical traps.
abstract: We used direct buckling force measurements with optical traps to determine the flexural rigidity of individual microtubules bound to polystyrene beads. To optimize the accuracy of the measurement, we used two optical traps and antibody-coated beads to manipulate each microtubule. We then applied a new analytical model assuming nonaxial buckling. Paclitaxel-stabilized microtubules were polymerized from purified tubulin, and the average microtubule rigidity was calculated as 2.0 x 10(-24) Nm2 using this novel microtubule buckling system. This value was not dependent on microtubule length. We also measured the rigidity of paclitaxel-free microtubules, and obtained the value of 7.9 x 10(-24) Nm2, which is nearly four times that measured for paclitaxel-stabilized microtubules.
authors.affiliation: Photodynamics Research Center, The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Miyagi, Japan. kikumoto@nict.go.jp
authors.forename: Mahito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kikumoto
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurachi
authors.forename: Valer
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tosa
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tashiro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D002417:Cattle; D004548:Elasticity; D007834:Lasers; D008846:Micromanipulation / Q000379:methods*; D008870:Microtubules / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength