title: Cytoskeletal mechanisms for breaking cellular symmetry.
abstract: Cytoskeletal systems are networks of polymers found in all eukaryotic and many prokaryotic cells. Their purpose is to transmit and integrate information across cellular dimensions and help turn a disorderly mob of macromolecules into a spatially organized, living cell. Information, in this context, includes physical and chemical properties relevant to cellular physiology, including: the number and activity of macromolecules, cell shape, and mechanical force. Most animal cells are 10-50 microns in diameter, whereas the macromolecules that comprise them are 10,000-fold smaller (2-20 nm). To establish long-range order over cellular length scales, individual molecules must, therefore, self-assemble into larger polymers, with lengths (0.1-20 m) comparable to the size of a cell. These polymers must then be cross-linked into organized networks that fill the cytoplasm. Such cell-spanning polymer networks enable different parts of the cytoplasm to communicate directly with each other, either by transmitting forces or by carrying cargo from one spot to another.
authors.affiliation: N312F Genentech Hall, UCSF School of Medicine, 600 16th Street, San Francisco, California 94158, USA. dyche@mullinslab.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: R Dyche
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Mullins
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000378:metabolism; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D009865:Oocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D008941:Spindle Apparatus / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D011108:Polymers