title: Adsorption of a microtubule on a charged surface affects its disassembly dynamics.
abstract: The dynamics of disassembly of microtubules deposited on surfaces is shown to be strongly dependent on the electrostatic interaction between the microtubule and the substrate. Fluorescence microscopy of microtubules adsorbed on a Poly-L-Lysine film and immersed in pure water show a drastic decrease in disassembly velocity compared to the microtubules in bulk water solutions. While microtubules suspended in pure water disassemble in seconds, the dissociation velocity of microtubules adsorbed on a Poly-L-Lysine film ranges from 0.8 to 1.0 microm/min in pure water. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of the microtubule dynamics indicate that a decrease in the dissociation velocity of unstable microtubules can be achieved by reducing the heterodimer dissociation rate constant of tubulin heterodimers constituting a single protofilament, adsorbed to the Poly-L-Lysine film. This model suggests that the reduction of the dissociation velocity originates from the electrostatic interactions between the positively charged amino groups of the Poly-L-Lysine film and the negatively charged microtubule surface.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nano-Biomolecular Engineering Science and Technology (n-BEST) Program, The University of Arizona, Tucson AZ 85721, USA.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guzman
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Deymier
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Umnov
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hoying
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raghavan
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Palusinski
authors.forename: B J J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Zelinski
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008870:Microtubules / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology; D013499:Surface Properties