Berlin 2012 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 18: Posters: Statistical Physics in Biological Systems
BP 18.27: Poster
Mittwoch, 28. März 2012, 17:30–19:30, Poster A
Physical description of centrosome assembly using a phase separation process — •David Zwicker1, Markus Decker2, Steffen Jaensch2, Anthony 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 organizing and 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 based on phase separation by which the centrosome volume may be controlled. Specifically, a chemical reaction driving the phase separation process accounts for the temporal and spatial evolution observed in experiments. We also take surface tension effects into account.
Our theory explains the growth dynamics of centrosomes for all cell sizes down to the sixteen cell stage of the C. elegans embryo, and it also accounts for data acquired in experiments with aberrant numbers of centrosomes and altered cell volumes. Furthermore, the model can describe the dissolution phase occurring during cell division and unequal centrosome sizes observed in cells with disturbed centrioles.