Design Principles of Length Control of Cytoskeletal Structures.

ABSTRACT: Cells contain elaborate and interconnected networks of protein polymers, which make up the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton governs the internal positioning and movement of vesicles and organelles and controls dynamic changes in cell polarity, shape, and movement. Many of these processes require tight control of the size and shape of cytoskeletal structures, which is achieved despite rapid turnover of their molecular components. Here we review mechanisms by which cells control the size of filamentous cytoskeletal structures, from the point of view of simple quantitative models that take into account stochastic dynamics of their assembly and disassembly. Significantly, these models make experimentally testable predictions that distinguish different mechanisms of length control. Although the p

SUBMITTER: Mohapatra L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5466818 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature