Dresden 2011 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 24: Physics of Cells II
BP 24.8: Talk
Thursday, March 17, 2011, 12:15–12:30, ZEU 250
Physical description of centrosome assembly and disassembly — •David Zwicker1, Markus Decker2, Steffen Jaensch2, Anthony A Hyman2, and Frank Jülicher1 — 1Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany — 2Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
The size of many cell organelles is strongly correlated with cell size. Achieving this requires a robust mechanism for scaling subcellular structures. Here, we propose a theoretical description of the growth phase of the centrosome, an organelle involved in mitosis. We identify a possible mechanism by which the centrosome volume may be controlled. Not only can our theory explain the growth dynamics for all cell sizes down to the sixteen cell stage of the C. elegans embryo, but it does also account for data acquired in experiments with aberrant numbers of centrosomes or altered cell volumes. Additionally, the model can describe the dissolution phase occurring during cell division and centrosomes of unequal size observed in cells with disturbed centrioles.