Prolonging assembly through dissociation:A self assembly paradigm in microtubules

TL;DR

This paper introduces a stochastic hydrolysis model for microtubule dynamics, revealing how buried GTP remnants facilitate recovery from shrinkage and cause counterintuitive effects where increased depolymerization can promote assembly.

Contribution

It presents a novel one-dimensional model incorporating stochastic hydrolysis, highlighting the role of GTP remnants in microtubule assembly and disassembly dynamics.

Findings

Buried GTP remnants enable alternative recovery mechanisms.

Increased depolymerization rate can lead to increased assembly.

Fluctuations in filament length are enhanced by stochastic hydrolysis.

Abstract

We study a one-dimensional model of microtubule assembly/disassembly in which GTP bound to tubulins within the microtubule undergoes stochastic hydrolysis. In contrast to models that only consider a cap of GTP-bound tubulin, stochastic hydrolysis allows GTP-bound tubulin remnants to exist within the microtubule. We find that these buried GTP remnants enable an alternative mechanism of recovery from shrinkage, and enhances fluctuations of filament lengths. Under conditions for which this alternative mechanism dominates, an increasing depolymerization rate leads to a decrease in dissociation rate and thus a net increase in assembly.