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. 1978 Nov;24(2):505–515. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(78)85397-1

Dynamic light scattering from solutions of microtubules.

J S Gethner, F Gaskin
PMCID: PMC1473413  PMID: 728526

Abstract

Calf brain microtubule protein was assembled in vitro to form dilute solutions of microtubules (240 A diameter) having lengths greater than 1 micrometer. The microtubule solutions were examined by dynamic laser light scattering techniques. The angular dependence of the correlation function leads to the conclusion that the correlation function is measuring the translational diffusion constant of the particles. The length dependence of the correlation function, however, shows that the translational diffusion constant is not being measured and that the diffusion constant for the microtubules cannot be straightforwardly determined. These results suggest that a collective property of the rods is being measured by the laser light scattering. Although specific microtubule-microtubule interactions are a possible explanation for the observed results, we present arguments that suggest that the solution can be adequately modeled as a network of entangled polymers.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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