Abstract
Microtubules are the most rigid filament of the cytoskeleton. They define the shape of the cell, function as routes for intracellular transport, and aid during cell division. The microtubule must be rigid enough to structurally support the cell, yet dynamic to reorganize during mitosis. We are investigating the effect of “old age” on microtubule rigidity using freely fluctuating taxol-stabilized, fluorescent microtubules in vitro. We find that the persistence length does not depend on the contour length when the measurements are all taken within several hours, but the persistence length does change on the order of a day. We also find that the noise floor is higher for new (within hours of polymerization) microtubules, perhaps due to the presence of unpolymerized dimers. After 24 hours, the noise decreases and the data is the most reproducible. After 48 hours, the noise rises again, likely due to disintegration of old microtubules and aggregation of dimers. We have also tested the effects of tubulin type (bovine and porcine) and rhodamine content on the persistence length value and the error in the measurement.
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