Skip to main content
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1985 Jun;82(12):4127–4131. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.12.4127

Theoretical treatment of microtubules disappearing in solution.

Y Chen, T L Hill
PMCID: PMC397948  PMID: 3858870

Abstract

The origin of the two-phase (cap, no cap) macroscopic kinetic model of the end of a microtubule is reviewed. The model is then applied to a new theoretical problem, namely, the Mitchison-Kirschner [Mitchison, T. & Kirschner, M. W. (1984) Nature (London) 312, 237-242] experiment in which aggregated microtubules in solution spontaneously decrease in number (shorten to disappearance) while the surviving microtubules increase in length. The model fits the experiments without difficulty.

Full text

PDF
4129

Selected References

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

  1. Carlier M. F., Hill T. L., Chen Y. Interference of GTP hydrolysis in the mechanism of microtubule assembly: an experimental study. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Feb;81(3):771–775. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.3.771. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Carlier M. F., Pantaloni D. Kinetic analysis of guanosine 5'-triphosphate hydrolysis associated with tubulin polymerization. Biochemistry. 1981 Mar 31;20(7):1918–1924. doi: 10.1021/bi00510a030. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chen Y. D., Hill T. L. Monte Carlo study of the GTP cap in a five-start helix model of a microtubule. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Feb;82(4):1131–1135. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.4.1131. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chen Y., Hill T. L. Use of Monte Carlo calculations in the study of microtubule subunit kinetics. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Dec;80(24):7520–7523. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.24.7520. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hill T. L., Carlier M. F. Steady-state theory of the interference of GTP hydrolysis in the mechanism of microtubule assembly. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Dec;80(23):7234–7238. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.23.7234. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hill T. L., Chen Y. Phase changes at the end of a microtubule with a GTP cap. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Sep;81(18):5772–5776. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.18.5772. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hill T. L. Introductory analysis of the GTP-cap phase-change kinetics at the end of a microtubule. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Nov;81(21):6728–6732. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.21.6728. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hill T. L., Kirschner M. W. Bioenergetics and kinetics of microtubule and actin filament assembly-disassembly. Int Rev Cytol. 1982;78:1–125. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hill T. L. Phase-change kinetics for a microtubule with two free ends. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Jan;82(2):431–435. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.2.431. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Mitchison T., Kirschner M. Dynamic instability of microtubule growth. Nature. 1984 Nov 15;312(5991):237–242. doi: 10.1038/312237a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Mitchison T., Kirschner M. Microtubule assembly nucleated by isolated centrosomes. Nature. 1984 Nov 15;312(5991):232–237. doi: 10.1038/312232a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Wegner A. Head to tail polymerization of actin. J Mol Biol. 1976 Nov;108(1):139–150. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(76)80100-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES