ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2008
Force-generation and dynamic instability of microtubule bundles.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed.
- A molecular and spatial resource defining tubulin isotype organization during corneal development.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Microtubule polymerization generates microtentacles important in circulating tumor cell invasion.Biophysical journal · 2025Article
- FAIR data for optical tweezers experiments.Biophysical journal · 2025Review
- How does the tubulin code facilitate directed cell migration?Biochemical Society transactions · 2025Review
- EB3-informed dynamics of the microtubule stabilizing cap during stalled growth.Biophysical journal · 2025Article
- Architecture-driven quantitative nanoscopy maps cytoskeleton remodeling.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Mechanical confinement prevents ectopic platelet release.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- A stable microtubule bundle formed through an orchestrated multistep process controls quiescence exit.eLife · 2024Article
- Life under tension: the relevance of force on biological polymers.Biophysics reports · 2024Article
- Building on-chip cytoskeletal circuits via branched microtubule networks.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Article
- Mechanical coupling coordinates microtubule growth.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Measuring and modeling forces generated by microtubules.Biophysical reviews · 2023Review
- The Influence of Nucleus Mechanics in Modelling Adhesion-independent Cell Migration in Structured and Confined Environments.Bulletin of mathematical biology · 2023Article
- Reliable and robust control of nucleus centering is contingent on nonequilibrium force patterns.iScience · 2023Article
- The role of mechanics in axonal stability and development.Seminars in cell & developmental biology · 2023Review
- Diversity and Potential Multifunctionality of Archaeal CetZ Tubulin-like Cytoskeletal Proteins.Biomolecules · 2023Article
- The importance of microtubule-dependent tension in accurate chromosome segregation.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2023Review
- Hubbing the Cancer Cell.Cancers · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Individual dynamic microtubules can generate pushing or pulling forces when their growing or shrinking ends are in contact with cellular objects such as the cortex or chromosomes. These microtubules can operate in parallel bundles, for example when interacting with mitotic chromosomes. Here, we investigate the force-generating capabilities of a bundle of growing microtubules and study the effect that force has on the cooperative dynamics of such a bundle. We used an optical tweezers setup to study microtubule bundles growing against a microfabricated rigid barrier in vitro. We show that multiple microtubules can generate a pushing force that increases linearly with the number of microtubules present. In addition, the bundle can cooperatively switch to a shrinking state, due to a force-induced coupling of the dynamic instability of single microtubules. In the presence of GMPCPP, bundle catastrophes no longer occur, and high bundle forces are reached more effectively. We reproduce the observed behavior with a simple simulation of microtubule bundle dynamics that takes into account previously measured force effects on single microtubules. Using this simulation, we also show that a constant compressive force on a growing bundle leads to oscillations in bundle length that are of potential relevance for chromosome oscillations observed in living cells.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.