Dresden 2020 – scientific programme
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SYES: Symposium Spain as Guest of Honor
SYES 1: Spain as Guest of Honor I
SYES 1.4: Invited Talk
Thursday, March 19, 2020, 11:15–11:45, HSZ 02
The spindle is a composite of two permeating polar gels — David Oriola1,2, Benjamin Dalton1,2, Franziska Decker1,2, Frank Julicher1, and •Jan Brugues1 — 1MPI PKS; PoL; CSBD; Dresden, Germany — 2MPI CBG, Dresden, Germany
During cell division, correct segregation of chromosomes depends on the ability of microtubules to self-organize into a bipolar spindle. Spindle assembly is based on the interplay between spatial microtubule nucleation and microtubule transport. It has been recently shown that branching nucleation is the main mechanism driving microtubule nucleation in spindles. However, microtubule branching leads to explosive waves of microtubule nucleation that rapidly travel away from initially created microtubules much faster than the microtubule flux velocity. This behavior should normally result in spindles with inverted polarity, yet spindles manage to robustly assemble bipolar spindles despite slow microtubule flux. Here, we used experiment and theory to study how spindles acquire the proper microtubule organization despite the slow microtubule transport and branching nucleation. We found that microtubules self-organize into two mechanically distinct microtubule networks that undergo a gelation transition. This gelation allows the propagation of long-range extensile stress from the center of the spindle that push these two gels apart. This process globally transports microtubules independently of their local polarity environment, and explains how microtubules can be sorted out into the proper bipolar structure in the presence of branching nucleation despite the slow microtubule transport.