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Updated: Dec 21, 2025
06:42
Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
9.9K
Mechanics and kinetics of dynamic instability
Thomas Ct Michaels1, Shuo Feng2,3, Haiyi Liang2,3
1Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States.
Elife
|May 12, 2020
Summary
Microtubules (MTs) switch between growth and shrinkage due to tubulin states. This study models how MT structure, kinetics, and disorder influence this dynamic instability.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Cell Biology
- Materials Science
Background:
- Microtubules (MTs) are dynamic polymers essential for cell structure and division.
- Dynamic instability, the stochastic switching between growth and shrinkage, is key to MT function.
- This process is regulated by the distinct structural properties of GTP- and GDP-bound tubulin dimers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mechanical and kinetic regulation of dynamic instability in 3D self-assembling microtubules.
- To quantify the influence of tubulin dimer states and their kinetics on MT mechanical stability.
- To explore the role of quenched disorder in MT dynamic instability.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a combination of theoretical analysis and computational simulations.
- Developed a model to analyze 3D self-assembling microtubules.
- Investigated the impact of tubulin subunit states and their hydrolysis on MT dynamics.
Main Results:
- Quantified how 3D structure and kinetics of tubulin dimer states dictate MT mechanical stability.
- Demonstrated that dynamic instability is affected by quenched disorder in tubulin states.
- Linked the fraction of non-hydrolyzed tubulin to the regulation of MT dynamics.
Conclusions:
- Integrated 3D geometry, kinetics, and statistical mechanics of microtubule self-assembly.
- Provided a framework connecting tubulin subunit properties to dynamic instability.
- Suggested potential applicability to other self-assembled systems exhibiting similar phenomena.
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