Collision induced spatial organization of microtubules.
The dynamic behavior of microtubules in solution can be strongly modified by interactions with walls or other structures. We examine here a microtubule growth model where the increase in size of the plus-end is perturbed by collisions with other microtubules. We show that such a simple mechanism of constrained growth can induce ordered structures and patterns from an initially isotropic and homogeneous suspension. We find that microtubules self-organize locally in randomly oriented domains that grow and compete with each other. A weak orientation bias, similar to the one induced by gravity or cellular boundaries is enough to influence the domain growth direction, eventually leading to a macroscopic sample orientation.
Baulin
Vladimir A
VA
Institut Charles Sadron CNRS UPR 22, 67083 Strasbourg Cedex, France. vladimir.baulin@urv.cat
Marques
Carlos M
CM
Thalmann
Fabrice
F
D003198:Computer Simulation; D007700:Kinetics; D008870:Microtubules / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D013997:Time Factors