Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 22: Posters: Cytoskeletal filaments

BP 22.13: Poster

Tuesday, March 17, 2015, 14:00–16:00, Poster A

Stochastic mechanochemical simulation of microtubule dynamics — •Matthias Schmidt and Jan Kierfeld — Lehrstuhl für Theoretische Physik I, Technische Universität Dortmund

Microtubules are filaments in eukaryotic cells made of alpha-beta-tubulin heterodimers which display a complex polymerization dynamics involving catastrophe and rescue events. This dynamics is a result of the interplay of polymerization, hydrolysis, and mechanical forces within the microtubule, which arise from dimer-bending due to hydrolysis.

We implement a stochastic simulation model by combining the mechanics of the microtubule structure on the tubulin dimer level with the chemical processes of polymerization and hydrolysis into a mechanochemical model. In this model, we introduce local, dimer-dependent depolymerization and hydrolysis rates, which depend on the mechanical forces acting on each dimer. We investigate parameter estimation from polymerization and depolymerization rates and features of the hydrolysis behavior.