Physical properties of the cytoplasm modulate the rates of microtubule polymerization and depolymerization.

ABSTRACT: The cytoplasm is a crowded, visco-elastic environment whose physical properties change according to physiological or developmental states. How the physical properties of the cytoplasm impact cellular functions in vivo remains poorly understood. Here, we probe the effects of cytoplasmic concentration on microtubules by applying osmotic shifts to fission yeast, moss, and mammalian cells. We show that the rates of both microtubule polymerization and depolymerization scale linearly and inversely with cytoplasmic concentration; an increase in cytoplasmic concentration decreases the rates of microtubule polymerization and depolymerization proportionally, whereas a decrease in cytoplasmic concentration leads to the opposite. Numerous lines of evidence indicate that these effects are due to change

SUBMITTER: Molines AT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9319896 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature