Effects of microtubule length and crowding on active microtubule network organization.

ABSTRACT: Active filament networks can organize into various dynamic architectures driven by cross-linking motors. Densities and kinetic properties of motors and microtubules have been shown previously to determine active microtubule network self-organization, but the effects of other control parameters are less understood. Using computer simulations, we study here how microtubule lengths and crowding effects determine active network architecture and dynamics. We find that attractive interactions mimicking crowding effects or long microtubules both promote the formation of extensile nematic networks instead of asters. When microtubules are very long and the network is highly connected, a new isotropically motile network state resembling a "gliding mesh" is predicted. Using in vitro reconstitu

SUBMITTER: Chew WX 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9958361 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature