Swinging a sword : how microtubules search for their targets

Scientific paper - Original scientific paper

• Author: Nenad Pavin
• Author: Iva M. Tolić‑Nørrelykke
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Science; (Department of Physics)
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: NATURAL SCIENCES; Physics

Abstract (english)

The cell interior is in constant movement, which is to a large extent determined by microtubules, thin and long filaments that permeate the cytoplasm. To move large objects, microtubules need to connect them to the site of their destination. For example, during cell division, microtubules connect chromosomes with the spindle poles via kinetochores, protein complexes on the chromosomes. A general question is how microtubules, while being bound to one structure, find the target that needs to be connected to this structure. Here we review the mechanisms of how microtubules search for kinetochores, with emphasis on the recently discovered microtubule feature to explore space by pivoting around the spindle pole. In addition to accelerating the search for kinetochores, pivoting helps the microtubules to search for cortical anchors, as well as to self-organize into parallel arrays and asters to target specific regions of the cell. Thus, microtubule pivoting constitutes a mechanism by which they locate targets in different cellular contexts.

• Keywords (english): microtubules; kinetochores; mitosis; search mechanism; pivoting; angular movement
• Language: english
• Publication type: Scientific paper - Original scientific paper
• Publication status: Published
• Peer review: Peer review - international
• Publication version: Published version
• Journal title: Systems and Synthetic Biology
• Numbering: vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 179-186
• p-ISSN: 1872-5325
• e-ISSN: 1872-5333
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11693-014-9134-x
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:217:436716
• Publication: 2014
• Document URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11693-014-9134-x
• Type of resource: Text
• Access conditions: Open access
• Public note: © The Author(s) 2014. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. Received: 7 December 2013. Accepted: 4 February 2014. Published online: 16 February 2014.
• Created on: 2019-11-29 14:51:29