Dresden 2014 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 1: Molecular Motors
BP 1.12: Talk
Monday, March 31, 2014, 12:45–13:00, HÜL 386
Dynein, microtubule and cargo: a ménage à trois — •Nenad Pavin1, Vaishnavi Ananthanarayanan2, and Iva Tolic-Norrelykke2 — 1Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia — 2Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
To exert forces, motor proteins bind with one end to cytoskeletal filaments, such as microtubules and actin, and with the other end to the cell cortex, a vesicle or another motor. A general question is how motors search for sites in the cell where both motor ends can bind to their respective binding partners. In the case of nuclear movements in meiotic prophase, we identify the steps of the dynein binding process: from the cytoplasm to the microtubule and from the microtubule to cortical anchors. We found that dyneins on the microtubule move either in a diffusive or directed manner, with the switch from diffusion to directed movement occurring upon binding of dynein to cortical anchors. We explain theoretically how this dual behavior of dynein, together with the two steps of binding, enables dyneins to self-organize into a spatial pattern needed for them to generate large collective forces.
Ananthanarayanan, Schattat, Vogel, Krull, Pavin, Tolic-Norrelykke, Cell 2013.