The mitotic spindle is chiral due to torques within microtubule bundles

Scientific paper - Original scientific paper

• Author: Maja Novak; MBZ: 344456
• Author: Bruno Polak
• Author: Juraj Simunić; MBZ: 322860
• Author: Zvonimir Boban
• Author: Barbara Kuzmić; MBZ: 362291
• Author: Andreas W Thomae
• Author: Iva Marija Tolić; MBZ: 260543
• Author: Nenad Pavin; MBZ: 204800
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Science; (Department of Physics)
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: NATURAL SCIENCES; Physics
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: NATURAL SCIENCES; Biology

Abstract (english)

Mitosis relies on forces generated in the spindle, a micro- machine composed of microtubules and associated proteins. Forces are required for the congression of chromosomes to the metaphase plate and their separation in anaphase. However, besides forces, torques may exist in the spindle, yet they have not been investigated. Here we show that the spindle is chiral. Chirality is evident from the finding that microtubule bundles in human spindles follow a left-handed helical path, which cannot be explained by forces but rather by torques. Kinesin-5 (Kif11/Eg5) inactivation abolishes spindle chirality. Our theoretical model predicts that bending and twisting moments may generate curved shapes of bundles. We found that bundles turn by about −2 deg µm−1 around the spindle axis, which we explain by a twisting moment of roughly −10 pNµm. We conclude that torques, in addition to forces, exist in the spindle and determine its chiral architecture.

• Keywords (english): mitosis; mitotic spindle; microtubules; chirality; torque; kinesin-5
• Language: english
• Publication type: Scientific paper - Original scientific paper
• Publication status: Published
• Peer review: Peer review - international
• Publication version: Published version
• Journal title: Nature Communications
• Numbering: vol. 9, 3571
• p-ISSN: 2041-1723
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06005-7
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:217:446605
• Publication: 2018
• Document URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-06005-7
• Type of resource: Text
• Access conditions: Open access
• Public note: © The Author(s) 2018. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/. Published: 03 September 2018.
• Created on: 2020-03-01 12:27:14