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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 23: Cytoskeletal Filaments

BP 23.6: Talk

Thursday, March 29, 2012, 16:30–16:45, H 1028

Cooperative dynamics of microtubule ensembles under force — •Björn Zelinski and Jan Kierfeld — TU Dortmund University, Physics Department, Dortmund, Germany

We investigate the cooperative dynamics of an ensemble of microtubules growing against an external elastic force. Stochastic simulations show that the interplay between force sharing and dynamic instability gives rise to complex dynamics with collective catastrophe and collective rescue events. We quantify the dynamic behaviour by a mean field theory, which allows us to estimate the average number of cooperatively pushing microtubules and to calculate the generated ensemble polymerization force and its dependence on microtubule number. We also investigate the dependence on switching rates of the dynamic instability, which can be involved in cellular regulation mechanisms.