A theory of microtubule catastrophes and their regulation.

ABSTRACT: Dynamic instability, in which abrupt transitions occur between growing and shrinking states, is an intrinsic property of microtubules that is regulated by both mechanics and specialized proteins. We discuss a model of dynamic instability based on the popular idea that growth is maintained by a cap at the tip of the fiber. The loss of this cap is thought to trigger the transition from growth to shrinkage, called a catastrophe. The model includes longitudinal interactions between the terminal tubulins of each protofilament and "gating rescues" between neighboring protofilaments. These interactions allow individual protofilaments to transiently shorten during a phase of overall microtubule growth. The model reproduces the reported dependency of the catastrophe rate on tubulin concentration, t

SUBMITTER: Brun L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2795527 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature