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Polymerization kinetics of microtubules and actin filaments
Actin and microtubule polymerization plays an important
role in many aspects of cell dynamics. The dynamics of
filament polymerization is not only determined by the
rate constants for monomer addition and removal from the
filaments. Some additional aspects will be discussed in
this talk.
In actin filaments polymerization is coupled to ATP
hydrolysis, which takes place within an ATP-rich cap
and can be spatially separated from the polymer tip.
In filament bundles or microtubules consisting of
several protofilaments, attractive interactions between
filaments contribute to force generation.
For microtubules, hydrolysis gives rise to a complex
dynamics with catastrophe and rescue events. For
ensembles of microtubules sharing a load force, an
interesting new collective catastrophe and rescue
dynamics emerge.
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