Microtubule simulation (IMAGE)
Caption
An image of a large segment of a microtubule with a peeling tip. The colors highlight the different protofilaments that make up the tubule. The protofilaments are long biopolymers consisting of the tubulin protein that binds GTP and chemically hydrolyzes it to GDP. Shown in a microtubule tip region consisting of about 1200 tubulin proteins. The simulations by the team discovered that the protofilaments of the peeling tips tend to cluster differently whether the tubulin is in the GTP or GDP state, an important feature of their behavior in cells, e.g., to regulate force generation by the microtubules on key regions of the cell such as its nucleus.
Credit
Gregory Voth, University of Chicago
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