Microscopic interactions control a structural transition in active mixtures of microtubules and molecular motors.

ABSTRACT: Microtubules and molecular motors are essential components of the cellular cytoskeleton, driving fundamental processes in vivo, including chromosome segregation and cargo transport. When reconstituted in vitro, these cytoskeletal proteins serve as energy-consuming building blocks to study the self-organization of active matter. Cytoskeletal active gels display rich emergent dynamics, including extensile flows, locally contractile asters, and bulk contraction. However, it is unclear how the protein-protein interaction kinetics set their contractile or extensile nature. Here, we explore the origin of the transition from extensile bundles to contractile asters in a minimal reconstituted system composed of stabilized microtubules, depletant, adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP), and clusters of kin

SUBMITTER: Najma B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10786313 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature