Nonthermal fluctuations of the mitotic spindle.
We present direct measurements of fluctuations in the nucleus of yeast cells. While prior work has shown these fluctuations to be active and non-thermal in character, their origin and time dependence are not understood. We show that the nuclear fluctuations we observe are quantitatively consistent with uncorrelated, active force fluctuations driving a nuclear medium that is dominated by an uncondensed DNA solution, for which we perform rheological measurements on an in vitro model system under similar conditions to what is expected in the nucleus.
Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA. kilfoil@physics.umass.edu.
Kevin
K
Smith
Brian
B
Griffin
Henry
H
Byrd
F C
FC
MacKintosh
Maria L
ML
Kilfoil
D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000737:chemistry; D012212:Rheology; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D008941:Spindle Apparatus / Q000737:chemistry*
D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; C432692:SPC42 protein, S cerevisiae; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins