Monte Carlo simulations of microtubule arrays: The critical roles of rescue transitions, the cell boundary, and tubulin concentration in shaping microtubule distributions
Abstract
Microtubules are dynamic polymers required for a number of processes, including chromosome movement in mitosis. While regulators of microtubule dynamics have been well characterized, we lack a convenient way to predict how the measured dynamic parameters shape the entire microtubule system within a cell, or how the system responds when specific parameters change in response to internal or external signals. Here we describe a Monte Carlo model to simulate an array of dynamic microtubules from parameters including the cell radius, total tubulin concentration, microtubule nucleation rate from the centrosome, and plus end dynamic instability. The algorithm also allows dynamic instability or position of the cell edge to vary during the simulation. Outputs from simulations include free tubulin concentration, average microtubule lengths, length distributions, and individual length changes over time. Using this platform and reported parameters measured in interphase LLCPK1 epithelial cells, we predict that sequestering ~ 15-20% of total tubulin results in fewer microtubules, but promotes dynamic instability of those remaining. Simulations also predict that lowering nucleation rate will increase the stability and average length of the r...Continue Reading
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