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Self-organization of microtubules and motors

Nature volume 389, pages 305–308 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

Cellular structures are established and maintained through a dynamic interplay between assembly and regulatory processes. Self-organization of molecular components provides a variety of possible spatial structures: the regulatory machinery chooses the most appropriate to express a given cellular function1. Here we study the extent and the characteristics of self-organization using microtubules and molecular motors2 as a model system. These components are known to participate in the formation of many cellular structures, such as the dynamic asters found in mitotic and meiotic spindles3,4. Purified motors and microtubules have previously been observed to form asters in vitro5. We have reproduced this result with a simple system consisting solely of multi-headed constructs of the motor protein kinesin6 and stabilized microtubules. We show that dynamic asters can also be obtained from a homogeneous solution of tubulin and motors. By varying the relative concentrations of the components, we obtain a variety of self-organized structures. Further, by studying this process in a constrained geometry of micro-fabricated glass chambers7, we demonstrate that the same final structure can be reached through different assembly ‘pathways’.

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Figure 1: Self-organization of taxol-stabilized microtubules and kinesin constructs into asters.
Figure 2: Self-organization in the constrained geometry of micro-fabricated chambers etched in glass.
Figure 3: Different large-scale patterns formed through self-organization of microtubules and motors.

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Acknowledgements

We thank E. Young and J. Gelles for kinesin plasmids; J. Johnson for taxol; T. Holy for help with the preparation of glass chambers; and T. Holy, M. Elowitz, E. Wolf, E. Karsenti, T.Mitchison, J. Howard and S. Block for discussions. This work was supported by grants from the NIH, the NSF and the HFSP, a fellowship from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (T.S.) and the French Government (F.J.N.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Molecular Biology and Physics, Princeton Unviersity, Princeton, 08544, New Jersey, USA

    F. J. Ndlec, T. Surrey & S. Leibler

  2. Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie Thorique, Ecole Suprieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles, 10 rue Vauquelin, 75231, Paris, France

    F. J. Ndlec & A. C. Maggs

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  1. F. J. Ndlec
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  2. T. Surrey
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  4. S. Leibler
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Correspondence to S. Leibler.

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Ndlec, F., Surrey, T., Maggs, A. et al. Self-organization of microtubules and motors. Nature 389, 305–308 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/38532

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