Dresden 2011 – wissenschaftliches Programm
Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe
BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 30: Posters: Physics of Cells
BP 30.28: Poster
Donnerstag, 17. März 2011, 17:15–20:00, P3
Exploring the microtubules role in nuclear centering of S. pombe — •Damien Ramunno-Johnson1, Nicola Maghelli1, Vladimir Krstic1, Nenad Pavin1,2, Alexander Krull1, Frank Jülicher2, and Iva Tolić-Nørrelykke1 — 1MPI-CBG, Dresden, Germany — 2MPI-PKS, Dresden, Germany
In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the nucleus ia positioned at the cell center. Since the nucleus determines the cell division site, nuclear centering is crucial for symmetrical cell division. Microtubules push against the cell ends and exert force on the nucleus, but how the cell regulates the centering remains unknown. Here we tackle this problem by using a combination of live cell imaging and theoretical modeling. We show that the nuclear centering efficiency is affected by the microtubule catastrophe rate.
To explore the effects of microtubule dynamics on nuclear centering, a mutant S. pombe strain was created to investigate of the role of kinesin-8 in microtubule catastrophe regulation. We found that centering functions better in the wild type. It is necessary to model this system as a dashpot and a spring in parallel. Taken together, our experimental and theoretical results provide a novel centering mechanism where kinesin-8 motors increase the efficiency of nuclear centering.