Spatial and temporal sensing limits of microtubule polarization in neuronal growth cones by intracellular gradients and forces.

ABSTRACT: Neuronal growth cones are the most sensitive among eukaryotic cells in responding to directional chemical cues. Although a dynamic microtubule cytoskeleton has been shown to be essential for growth-cone turning, the precise nature of coupling of the spatial cue with microtubule polarization is less understood. Here we present a computational model of microtubule polarization in a turning neuronal growth cone. We explore the limits of directional cues in modifying the spatial polarization of microtubules by testing the role of microtubule dynamics, gradients of regulators, and retrograde forces along filopodia. We analyze the steady state and transition behavior of microtubules on being presented with a directional stimulus. Our model makes novel, to our knowledge, predictions about the min

SUBMITTER: Mahajan S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3525850 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature