ArticleBiophysical journal2018
Microtubule Polymerization and Cross-Link Dynamics Explain Axonal Stiffness and Damage.
Article in Biophysical journal, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Platelet Adhesion and Aggregation Dynamics over Collagen- and VWF-coated Surfaces: Insights from Dissipative Particle Dynamics Simulations and Microfluidic Experiments.Bulletin of mathematical biology · 2026Article
- A Biophysics-Based Mathematical Model of Shear-Induced Platelet Activation and Receptor Shedding: Re-Examining Previous Experimental Data.ASAIO journal (American Society for Artificial Internal Organs : 1992) · 2025Article
- Feedback-Driven Dynamical Model for Axonal Extension on Parallel Micropatterns.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Unravelling the mechanotransduction pathways in Alzheimer's disease.Journal of biological engineering · 2023Review
- Image-based axon model highlights heterogeneity in initiation of damage.Biophysical journal · 2023Article
- A prestressed intracellular biomechanical model for the platelet to capture the disc-to-sphere morphological change from resting to activated state.International journal of computational methods · 2022Article
- Mathematical models of neuronal growth.Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology · 2022Review
- Geometrical nonlinear elasticity of axon under tension: A coarse-grained computational study.Biophysical journal · 2021Article
- Effect of Strain Rate on Single Tau, Dimerized Tau and Tau-Microtubule Interface: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study.Biomolecules · 2021Article
- Modeling links softening of myelin and spectrin scaffolds of axons after a concussion to increased vulnerability to repeated injuries.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Axonal cytomechanics in neuronal development.Journal of biosciences · 2020Review
- Localized Axolemma Deformations Suggest Mechanoporation as Axonal Injury Trigger.Frontiers in neurology · 2020Article
- The model of local axon homeostasis - explaining the role and regulation of microtubule bundles in axon maintenance and pathology.Neural development · 2019Review
- The Shrinking Brain: Cerebral Atrophy Following Traumatic Brain Injury.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2019Review
- Tension- and Adhesion-Regulated Retraction of Injured Axons.Biophysical journal · 2019Article
- Modeling the Axon as an Active Partner with the Growth Cone in Axonal Elongation.Biophysical journal · 2018Article
- Mechanical Cues in Spinal Cord Injury.Biophysical journal · 2018Article
- An Integrated Cytoskeletal Model of Neurite Outgrowth.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2018Review
- Physical Biology of Axonal Damage.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2018Article
- Utilizing a Structural Mechanics Approach to Assess the Primary Effects of Injury Loads Onto the Axon and Its Components.Frontiers in neurology · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Axonal damage is a critical indicator for traumatic effects of physical impact to the brain. However, the precise mechanisms of axonal damage are still unclear. Here, we establish a mechanistic and highly dynamic model of the axon to explore the evolution of damage in response to physical forces. Our axon model consists of a bundle of dynamically polymerizing and depolymerizing microtubules connected by dynamically detaching and reattaching cross-links. Although the probability of cross-link attachment depends exclusively on thermal fluctuations, the probability of detachment increases in the presence of physical forces. We systematically probe the landscape of axonal stretch and stretch rate and characterize the overall axonal force, stiffness, and damage as a direct result of the interplay between microtubule and cross-link dynamics. Our simulations reveal that slow loading is dominated by cross-link dynamics, a net reduction of cross-links, and a gradual accumulation of damage, whereas fast loading is dominated by cross-link deformations, a rapid increase in stretch, and an immediate risk of rupture. Microtubule polymerization and depolymerization decrease the overall axonal stiffness, but do not affect the evolution of damage at timescales relevant to axonal failure. Our study explains different failure mechanisms in the axon as emergent properties of microtubule polymerization, cross-link dynamics, and physical forces. We anticipate that our model will provide insight into causal relations by which molecular mechanisms determine the timeline and severity of axon damage after a physical impact to the brain.
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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.