Crowding-induced organization of cytoskeletal elements: II. Dissolution of spontaneously formed filament bundles by...

Through calculations of molecular packing constraints in crowded solutions, we have previously shown that dispersions of filament forming proteins and soluble proteins can be unstable at physiological concentrations, such that tight bundles of filaments are formed spontaneously, in the absence of any accessory binding proteins. Here we consider the modulation of this phenomenon by capping proteins. The theory predicts that, by shortening the average filament length, capping alleviates the packing problem. As a result, the dispersed isotropic solution is stable over an expanded range of compositions.