Dresden 2020 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 36: Cytoskeletal Filaments I

BP 36.7: Talk

Thursday, March 19, 2020, 17:00–17:15, SCH A251

Stiffening of the Ndc80 complex, the main mirotubule-kinetochore linker — •Felix Schwietert and Jan Kierfeld — TU Dortmund University, 44221 Dortmund, Germany

In the mitotic spindle microtubules attach to chromosomes via kinetochores, whose molecular structure and mechanical properties are not completely understood. Over the past years, it became evident that the Ndc80 complex plays a major role for attaching microtubules to the kinetochore and transmitting forces from depolymerizing microtubules to the chromosome. The Ndc80 complex is a rod-like coiled-coil with globular end domains that bind to the kinetochore and the microtubule, respectively. Due to its force transmitting function, its elastic properties are of great interest for modeling and understanding chromosome dynamics in the mitotic spindle. Here, we theoretically explain the recent experimental result that the effective stiffness of a Ndc80 complex increases under tension [1]. Our model is based on the specific architecture of the Ndc80 complex, which has a characteristic flexible kink at approximately one third of its length.

[1] V. A. Volkov, P. J. Huis in ’t Veld, M. Dogterom, and A. Musacchio, eLife 7:e36764 (2018)