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Science 11 May 2001:
Vol. 292. no. 5519, pp. 1167 - 1171
DOI: 10.1126/science.1059758
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Reports

Physical Properties Determining Self-Organization of Motors and Microtubules

Thomas Surrey,* François Nédélec,* Stanislas Leibler,dagger Eric Karsentiddagger

In eukaryotic cells, microtubules and their associated motor proteins can be organized into various large-scale patterns. Using a simplified experimental system combined with computer simulations, we examined how the concentrations and kinetic parameters of the motors contribute to their collective behavior. We observed self-organization of generic steady-state structures such as asters, vortices, and a network of interconnected poles. We identified parameter combinations that determine the generation of each of these structures. In general, this approach may become useful for correlating the morphogenetic phenomena taking place in a biological system with the biophysical characteristics of its constituents.

Cell Biology and Biophysics Program, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
*   These authors contributed equally to this work.

dagger    Present address: Departments of Physics and Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.

ddagger    To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: karsenti{at}embl-heidelberg.de

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