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Self-Assembly of Microtubule Tactoids
Published on: June 23, 2022
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Self-Assembly of Microtubule Tactoids
Prashali Chauhan1, Sumon Sahu2, Niaz Goodbee1
1Physics Department, Syracuse University.
Journal of Visualized Experiments : Jove
|July 11, 2022
Summary
Researchers created self-organized microtubule spindles in vitro using MAP65 crosslinkers. These microtubule tactoids mimic cellular division machinery, offering insights into cytoskeleton self-organization.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Biophysics
- Biochemistry
Background:
- The cytoskeleton drives cellular organization and re-organization, particularly during cell division (mitosis and meiosis).
- Microtubules form the spindle apparatus essential for segregating genetic material during cell division.
- Achieving self-organized microtubule spindles in vitro is a key challenge in understanding cellular mechanics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a method for reconstituting self-organized microtubule spindles in vitro.
- To investigate the role of microtubule-associated proteins and crowding agents in spindle formation.
- To characterize the properties of these reconstituted spindle-like assemblies.
Main Methods:
- Utilized MAP65, an antiparallel microtubule crosslinker, to self-organize microtubules.
- Employed crowding agents to facilitate the formation of spindle-like assemblies.
- Characterized assembly shape using fluorescence microscopy.
- Assessed constituent mobility via fluorescence recovery after photobleaching.
Main Results:
- Successfully reconstituted long, thin, spindle-like microtubule assemblies in vitro.
- Demonstrated that MAP65 self-organizes microtubules into these structures.
- Observed similarities between these assemblies and liquid crystal tactoids.
- Microtubules were identified as potential mesoscale mesogens.
Conclusions:
- A minimal set of components can drive the self-organization of complex microtubule structures.
- Reconstituted microtubule tactoids provide a model system for studying spindle self-organization.
- This work offers protocols for creating and characterizing these in vitro assemblies.
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