Dynamics and length distributions of microtubules with a multistep catastrophe mechanism

Regarding the experimental observation that microtubule (MT) catastrophe can be described as a multistep process, we extend the Dogterom–Leibler model for dynamic instability in order to discuss the effect that such a multistep catastrophe mechanism has on the distribution of MT lengths in the two r...

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Main Authors: Felix Schwietert, Lina Heydenreich, Jan Kierfeld
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2023-01-01
Series:New Journal of Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/acb07b
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author Felix Schwietert
Lina Heydenreich
Jan Kierfeld
author_facet Felix Schwietert
Lina Heydenreich
Jan Kierfeld
author_sort Felix Schwietert
collection DOAJ
description Regarding the experimental observation that microtubule (MT) catastrophe can be described as a multistep process, we extend the Dogterom–Leibler model for dynamic instability in order to discuss the effect that such a multistep catastrophe mechanism has on the distribution of MT lengths in the two regimes of bounded and unbounded growth. We show that in the former case, the steady state length distribution is non-exponential and has a lighter tail if multiple steps are required to undergo a catastrophe. If rescue events are possible, we detect a maximum in the distribution, i.e. the MT has a most probable length greater than zero. In the regime of unbounded growth, the length distribution converges to a Gaussian distribution whose variance decreases with the number of catastrophe steps. We extend our work by applying the multistep catastrophe model to MTs that grow against an opposing force and to MTs that are confined between two rigid walls. We determine critical forces below which the MT is in the bounded regime, and show that the multistep characteristics of the length distribution are largely lost if the growth of an MT in the unbounded regime is restricted by a rigid wall. All results are verified by stochastic simulations.
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spelling doaj.art-98a3904b0a83439cb5345e60c15efe612023-08-09T14:11:19ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302023-01-0125101301710.1088/1367-2630/acb07bDynamics and length distributions of microtubules with a multistep catastrophe mechanismFelix Schwietert0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1907-7588Lina Heydenreich1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1579-3635Jan Kierfeld2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4291-0638Physics Department, TU Dortmund University , 44221 Dortmund, GermanyPhysics Department, TU Dortmund University , 44221 Dortmund, GermanyPhysics Department, TU Dortmund University , 44221 Dortmund, GermanyRegarding the experimental observation that microtubule (MT) catastrophe can be described as a multistep process, we extend the Dogterom–Leibler model for dynamic instability in order to discuss the effect that such a multistep catastrophe mechanism has on the distribution of MT lengths in the two regimes of bounded and unbounded growth. We show that in the former case, the steady state length distribution is non-exponential and has a lighter tail if multiple steps are required to undergo a catastrophe. If rescue events are possible, we detect a maximum in the distribution, i.e. the MT has a most probable length greater than zero. In the regime of unbounded growth, the length distribution converges to a Gaussian distribution whose variance decreases with the number of catastrophe steps. We extend our work by applying the multistep catastrophe model to MTs that grow against an opposing force and to MTs that are confined between two rigid walls. We determine critical forces below which the MT is in the bounded regime, and show that the multistep characteristics of the length distribution are largely lost if the growth of an MT in the unbounded regime is restricted by a rigid wall. All results are verified by stochastic simulations.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/acb07bmicrotubuledynamic instabilitycatastrophemultistep
spellingShingle Felix Schwietert
Lina Heydenreich
Jan Kierfeld
Dynamics and length distributions of microtubules with a multistep catastrophe mechanism
New Journal of Physics
microtubule
dynamic instability
catastrophe
multistep
title Dynamics and length distributions of microtubules with a multistep catastrophe mechanism
title_full Dynamics and length distributions of microtubules with a multistep catastrophe mechanism
title_fullStr Dynamics and length distributions of microtubules with a multistep catastrophe mechanism
title_full_unstemmed Dynamics and length distributions of microtubules with a multistep catastrophe mechanism
title_short Dynamics and length distributions of microtubules with a multistep catastrophe mechanism
title_sort dynamics and length distributions of microtubules with a multistep catastrophe mechanism
topic microtubule
dynamic instability
catastrophe
multistep
url https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/acb07b
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AT linaheydenreich dynamicsandlengthdistributionsofmicrotubuleswithamultistepcatastrophemechanism
AT jankierfeld dynamicsandlengthdistributionsofmicrotubuleswithamultistepcatastrophemechanism