Controlling self-assembly of microtubule spools via kinesin motor density

Lam, Anthony; Curschellas, C.; Krovvidi, D.; Hess, Henry

doi:10.1039/c4sm01518e

Cited by 31 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…One possible realization of this problem is a chain of self-propelled Janus colloids bonding to each other along the same direction in which they self-propel. The best studied example of follower forces at the micro-scale, however, is gliding motility assays, wherein cytoskeletal filaments (actin filaments or microtubules) glide over a surface under the propelling action of molecular motors (dynein, kinesin, or myosin) grafted onto the surface [17][18][19][20][21][22][23] . The interaction between motors and filaments naturally generates tangential forces distributed along the filament with a consistent direction (always towards the same end of the filament).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Instabilities and Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Active Elastic Filaments

Fily¹,

Subramanian

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Biological filaments driven by molecular motors tend to experience tangential propulsive forces also known as active follower forces. When such a filament encounters an obstacle, it deforms, which reorients its follower forces and alters its entire motion. If the filament pushes a cargo, the friction on the cargo can be enough to deform the filament, thus affecting the transport properties of the cargo. Motivated by cytoskeletal filament motility assays, we study the dynamic buckling instabilities of a two-dimensional slender elastic filament driven through a dissipative medium by tangential propulsive forces in the presence of obstacles or cargo. We observe two distinct instabilities. When the filament's head is pinned or experiences significant translational but little rotational drag from its cargo, it buckles into a steadily rotating coiled state. When it is clamped or experiences both significant translational and rotational drag from its cargo, it buckles into a periodically beating, overall translating state. Using minimal analytically tractable models, linear stability theory, and fully non-linear computations, we study the onset of each buckling instability, characterize each buckled state, and map out the phase diagram of the system. Finally, we use particle-based Brownian dynamics simulations to show our main results are robust to moderate noise and steric repulsion. Overall, our results provide a unified framework to understand the dynamics of tangentially propelled filaments and filament-cargo assemblies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Instabilities and Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Active Elastic Filaments

Fily¹,

Subramanian

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…The size of ring-shaped MT assembly was reported to be tuned by changing kinesin concentration on the substrate surface 19 and also by applying space confinement in the AcSO of MTs. 20 In this work, we demonstrate a new approach for controlling the size of ring-shaped assembly of MTs by controlling the length and rigidity of MTs in the AcSO.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of length and rigidity of microtubules on the size of ring-shaped assemblies obtained through active self-organization

et al. 2015

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The microtubule (MT)-kinesin biomolecular motor system has attracted much attention due to its possible applications in artificial biomachines. Recently an active self-organization (AcSO) method has been established to integrate MT filaments into highly organized assembled structures. The ring-shaped MT assembly, one of the structures derived from the AcSO of MTs, can convert the translational motion of MTs into rotational motion. Due to this attractive feature, the ring-shaped MT assembly appears to be a promising candidate for developing artificial devices and for future nanotechnological applications. In this work, we have investigated the effect of length and rigidity of MT filaments on the size of ring-shaped MT assembly in the AcSO process. We show that the size of ring-shaped MT assembly can be controlled by tuning the length and rigidity of MT filaments employed in the AcSO.Longer and stiffer MT filaments led to larger ring-shaped assemblies through AcSO, while AcSO of shorter and less stiff MT filaments produced smaller ring-shaped assemblies. This work might be important for the development of biomolecular motor based artificial biomachines, especially where size control of ring-shaped MT assembly will play an important role.

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“…9,12,17,18 First, transport velocity appeared to influence the number of assembled spools, as fewer spools formed at lower transport velocity. 12 However, this effect may reflect a lower kinetic rate of spool assembly rather than a smaller probability of spool formation, as spool assembly was characterized at a single time point (15 min) after initiating spool assembly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, transport velocity can impact the number of biomotors simultaneously available to propel microtubules. 18 Because this motor number can affect both the size and the number of assembled spools, 9 we hypothesized that spool size and/or number is influenced by transport velocity. To test this hypothesis, we examined the role of microtubule transport velocity in spool assembly, both in terms of assembly kinetics and the properties of spools at steady state (Figs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, several factors have been found to impact spool assembly, including motor density 9 , microtubule length and rigidity 10 , the density and interaction strength between microtubules, 11,12 flow cell material, [13][14][15] and step-wise assembly conditions. 16 The role of microtubule transport velocity in spool assembly, however, has remained unclear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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