Microtubules are long and stiff polymers that form the cytoskeleton of eucaryotic cells. They perform a series of tasks, such as determining the cell shape and providing a network of "rails" along which molecular motors transport organelles to different parts of the cell. They are particularly important during the process of cell division, since they provide the forces by which replicated chromosomes are segregated into what will be the two daughter cells. Microtubules are formed from a protein called tubulin and undergo a process called dynamic instability. In this paper we study, via numerical simulations of some simplified models, how the interaction between microtubules and the diffusion of free tubulin affects their spatial organization. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Documento: | Artículo |
Título: | Geometric features of microtubule dynamics |
Autor: | Ponce-Dawson, S.; Pearson, J.E.; Reynolds, W.N. |
Filiación: | Departamento de Fisica and I.A.F.E., Fac. de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, U.B.A., Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón I, (1428) Buenos Aires, Argentina XCM MS F645, Computational Science Methods, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, United States Bios Group L.P., 317 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501, United States |
Palabras clave: | Dynamic instability; Microtubules; Spatial organization; Cells; Chromosomes; Mathematical models; Polymers; Statistical mechanics; Dynamic instability; Microtubule dynamics; Molecular dynamics |
Año: | 1998 |
Volumen: | 257 |
Número: | 1-4 |
Página de inicio: | 156 |
Página de fin: | 164 |
DOI: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-4371(98)00138-1 |
Título revista: | Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications |
Título revista abreviado: | Phys A Stat Mech Appl |
ISSN: | 03784371 |
CODEN: | PHYAD |
Registro: | https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_03784371_v257_n1-4_p156_PonceDawson |