ArticleNature physics2018
Physical Forces Determining the Persistency and Centering Precision of Microtubule Asters.
Article in Nature physics, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed.
- Developmentally programmed changes in cytoplasmic mechanics revealed by active microrheology inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Measuring molecular forces inside living cells using magnetic tweezers.Biophysical reviews · 2025Review
- Structural response of microtubule and actin cytoskeletons to direct intracellular load.The Journal of cell biology · 2025Article
- Manipulation of Spindle Position Using Magnetic Tweezers in Sea Urchin Embryos.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2025Article
- Live-cell imaging under centrifugation characterized the cellular force for nuclear centration in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- A cytokinetic ring-driven cell rotation achieves Hertwig's rule in early development.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Multimodal probing of T-cell recognition with hexapod heterostructures.Nature methods · 2024Article
- Article
- Live-cell imaging under centrifugation characterized the cellular force for nuclear centration in thebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Manipulation of Embryonic Cleavage Geometry Using Magnetic Tweezers.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2024Article
- Reliable and robust control of nucleus centering is contingent on nonequilibrium force patterns.iScience · 2023Article
- Review
- Size- and position-dependent cytoplasm viscoelasticity through hydrodynamic interactions with the cell surface.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Dynein-dependent collection of membranes defines the architecture and position of microtubule asters in isolated, geometrically confined volumes of cell-free extracts.Molecular biology of the cell · 2022Article
- Contribution of cytoplasm viscoelastic properties to mitotic spindle positioning.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Mechanical Mechanisms of Chromosome Segregation.Cells · 2021Review
- Article
- Microtubule-dependent pushing forces contribute to long-distance aster movement and centration inMolecular biology of the cell · 2020Article
- Article
- Centering and Shifting of Centrosomes in Cells.Cells · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
In early embryos, microtubules form star-shaped aster structures that can measure up to hundreds of micrometres, and move at high speeds to find the geometrical centre of the cell. This process, known as aster centration, is essential for the fidelity of cell division and development, but how cells succeed in moving these large structures through their crowded and fluctuating cytoplasm remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that the positional fluctuations of migrating sea urchin sperm asters are small, anisotropic, and associated with the stochasticity of dynein-dependent forces moving the aster. Using in vivo magnetic tweezers to directly measure aster forces inside cells, we derive a linear aster force-velocity relationship and provide evidence for a spring-like active mechanism stabilizing the transverse position of the asters. The large frictional coefficient and spring constant quantitatively account for the amplitude and growth characteristics of athermal positional fluctuations, demonstrating that aster mechanics ensure noise suppression to promote persistent and precise centration. These findings define generic biophysical regimes of active cytoskeletal mechanics underlying the accuracy of cell division and early embryonic development.
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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.