Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Benjamin J. LaFrance, Johanna Roostalu, Gil Henkin, Basil J. Greber, Rui Zhang, Davide Normanno, Chloe O. McCollum, Thomas Surrey, Eva Nogales
Summary: By studying GTP hydrolysis-deficient MTs, we found that their lattice structure is remarkably plastic, distinct from wild-type GDP-MTs. End-binding proteins of the EB family have the ability to affect the structure of mutant GTP lattices and promote the transition of the GTP cap. The seam plays an important role in MT stability.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Milan Vala, Lukasz Bujak, Antonio Garcia Marin, Kristyna Holanova, Verena Henrichs, Marcus Braun, Zdenek Lansky, Marek Piliarik
Summary: Research reveals that microtubule disassembly is a discrete process, suggesting a stochastic mechanism of switching from disassembly to assembly phase.
Review
Cell Biology
Lorenza Garribba, Stefano Santaguida
Summary: Proper partitioning of sister chromatids is crucial for maintaining cell stability. Errors in this process can lead to chromosome abnormalities and DNA damage, which can promote tumor growth.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Chiaki Imanaka, Satoshi Shimada, Shino Ito, Marina Kamada, Tokuichi Iguchi, Yoshiyuki Konishi
Summary: In the remodeling of axonal arbor, differences in microtubule (MT) turnover are involved in selective branch regulation. However, the cellular system whereby neurons generate differences of MTs between axonal branches has not been clarified. Using a length-dependent model, this study predicts that differences in MT lifetime between neighboring branches could be generated depending on the distance from terminals. The model also suggests that destabilization of MTs throughout the arbor decreases the differences in MT lifetime between branches.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Markus Hopfler, Eva Absmeier, Sew-Yeu Peak-Chew, Evangelia Vartholomaiou, Lori A. Passmore, Ivana Gasic, Ramanujan S. Hegde
Summary: Microtubules are crucial for cellular architecture, intracellular transport, and mitosis. Excess free tubulin triggers the degradation of tubulin mRNAs through the recognition of nascent polypeptides by the tubulin-specific ribosome-binding factor TTC5. Our study reveals that TTC5 recruits the protein SCAPER to the ribosome, which in turn associates with the CCR4-NOT complex to initiate tubulin mRNA decay. Mutations in SCAPER impair CCR4-NOT recruitment, tubulin mRNA degradation, and microtubule-dependent chromosome segregation, leading to intellectual disability and retinitis pigmentosa in humans. This research provides insights into the specificity of cytoplasmic gene regulation through protein-protein interactions.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Muniyappan Annamalai
Summary: The study focuses on the mechanism of modulational instability (MI) in microtubulin (MT) lattices to understand the spread of energy and formation of unique solitonic structures. The dynamic instability of self-assembling microtubules (MTs) driven by different states of MT subunits affects important cellular processes. Analytical results show bubble-like solitons and various wave patterns may arise in MT lattices through the MI process, with insights into energy localization through solitons under the influence of an electric field and viscosity. Additionally, numerical analysis reveals long-lived excitations developed using molecular dynamics simulations, indicating the potential theoretical control of soliton propagation in tubulin lattices.
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL PLUS
(2022)
Article
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications
Eric Tankou, Conrad Bertrand Tabi, Timoleon Crepin Kofane
Summary: This paper investigates the conductive features of cellular microtubules by representing them as nonlinear electrical transmission lines with capacitive and dissipative properties. The flow of coupled ionic pulses along the microtubules is described by coupled cubic complex Ginzburg-Landau equations, and the stability of the pulses is checked using modulational instability growth rate analysis. The parametric analysis reveals regions where modulated waves and ionic conductivity are likely to occur in the microtubule network. Furthermore, dissipative bright-bright pulse soliton solutions are constructed, and the propagation of ionic pulses mediated by nonlinear interaction between oscillatory modes is studied using numerical simulations. The results suggest that coupled ionic signals may play a role in information processing involving microtubules.
CHAOS SOLITONS & FRACTALS
(2022)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Soheil Fatehiboroujeni, Arvind Gopinath, Sachin Goyal
Summary: This study investigates the three-dimensional instabilities and dynamics of elastic filaments or rods under active follower forces and fluid drag. Softly constrained filaments exhibit stable two-dimensional oscillations, while strongly constrained filaments display twisted three-dimensional swirling patterns and flipping transitions driven by accumulation of torsional energy. These findings provide insights into the design of synthetic macroscale pumps or mixers using prestress, elasticity, and activity.
Review
Cell Biology
Aglaja Kopf, Eva Kiermaier
Summary: The organization of microtubule arrays in immune cells is crucial for their effector functions in immune responses. Leukocytes mainly use centrosomes for microtubule nucleation, allowing for plastic MTOC localization and dynamics to adapt to different environmental conditions, highlighting the importance of microtubule involvement in cell shape maintenance and physical coherence.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Victoria Lucia Alonso, Mara Emilia Carloni, Camila Silva Goncalves, Gonzalo Martinez Peralta, Maria Eugenia Chesta, Alejandro Pezza, Luis Emilio Tavernelli, Maria Cristina M. Motta, Esteban Serra
Summary: Trypanosomatids have a simpler cytoskeleton arrangement with stable microtubules, extensively acetylated in Trypanosoma cruzi. The identification of T. cruzi ATAT as a tubulin acetyltransferase sheds light on the role of alpha-tubulin acetylation in regulating cell cycle progression and parasite biology. Over-expression of TcATAT leads to morphological defects, kinetoplast division impairment, and increased resistance to microtubule depolymerizing drugs in T. cruzi, emphasizing the importance of finely regulated alpha-tubulin acetylation levels for normal cell cycle progression.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sydney G. Duncombe, Samir G. Chethan, Charles T. Anderson
Summary: Confocal imaging has limitations in exploring the dynamic behaviors of CESA particles, but Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM) provides a two-fold improvement in resolution and reveals new insights into the dense arrangement of cellulose. SIM data show coordinated control of CESA catalytic activity, variability in CESA track patterns, and highlight SIM as a powerful tool for advancing CESA imaging beyond conventional light microscopy.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Laura Collesano, Isabella Guido, Ramin Golestanian, Andrej Vilfan
Summary: This study focuses on a system that consists of a pair of microtubules clamped at one end, and investigates the static shapes and active dynamics of this system. The results show that the system transitions from a planar shape to a non-planar shape and then back to planar shape as the length ratio between the two filaments increases. The predicted shapes of the microtubule pairs agree with experimental observations. The dynamical system of this two-filament system can have stable fixed points or limit cycle oscillations, which resemble ciliary motility.
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY INTERFACE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
M. Gidding, T. Janssen, C. S. Davies, A. Kirilyuk
Summary: Magnetic materials are crucial for energy-efficient data storage, but their magnetization dynamics can become chaotic at very short time scales, resulting in incoherent spin-wave excitations. Surprisingly, this chaos leads to periodic patterns of reversed magnetic domains, driven by phase-synchronization of magnon-polaron quasiparticles. These findings not only shed light on the formation and evolution of magnon-polarons, but also provide insights into an alternative mechanism for magnetization reversal using short-wavelength magnetoelastic waves.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Mechanics
Antonio Colanera, Alessandro Della Pia, Matteo Chiatto
Summary: In this work, a data-driven approach is used to estimate and analyze the global spectrum of gravitational planar liquid jets. The results show different spectral characteristics and behaviors in supercritical and subcritical regimes, with the density ratio affecting the stability of the flow system. This study is of great significance for understanding the behavior of liquid jets.
Article
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications
Emmanuel Kengne, Ahmed Lakhssassi
Summary: Inspired by electrophysiological models of microtubules, this study investigates a one-dimensional spatial array of nonlinear electrical transmission network with negative nonlinear resistance. The evolution of ionic waves in this circuit model is described by a nonlinear Schrodinger equation with a dissipative/amplification term. Analyzing the amplitude equation, the existence of modulated chirped solitonic waves along microtubules is explored, suggesting potential biological implications. Our results confirm the amplification of input signals in microtubules, but further validation is needed by adjusting parameters of the nonlinear resistance.
CHAOS SOLITONS & FRACTALS
(2023)