Herding of proteins by the ends of shrinking polymers

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Al-Hiyasat, Amer, Tuna, Yazgan, Kuo, Yin-Wei, Howard, Jonathon
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2021
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author Al-Hiyasat, Amer
Tuna, Yazgan
Kuo, Yin-Wei
Howard, Jonathon
author_facet Al-Hiyasat, Amer
Tuna, Yazgan
Kuo, Yin-Wei
Howard, Jonathon
contents The control of biopolymer length is mediated by proteins that localize to polymer ends and regulate polymerization dynamics. Several mechanisms have been proposed to achieve end localization. Here, we propose a novel mechanism by which a protein that binds to a shrinking polymer and slows its shrinkage will be spontaneously enriched at the shrinking end through a "herding" effect. We formalize this process using both a lattice-gas model and a continuum description, and we present experimental evidence that the microtubule regulator spastin employs this mechanism. Our findings extend to more general problems involving diffusion within shrinking domains.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2112_07757
institution arXiv
publishDate 2021
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Herding of proteins by the ends of shrinking polymers
Al-Hiyasat, Amer
Tuna, Yazgan
Kuo, Yin-Wei
Howard, Jonathon
Biological Physics
Subcellular Processes
The control of biopolymer length is mediated by proteins that localize to polymer ends and regulate polymerization dynamics. Several mechanisms have been proposed to achieve end localization. Here, we propose a novel mechanism by which a protein that binds to a shrinking polymer and slows its shrinkage will be spontaneously enriched at the shrinking end through a "herding" effect. We formalize this process using both a lattice-gas model and a continuum description, and we present experimental evidence that the microtubule regulator spastin employs this mechanism. Our findings extend to more general problems involving diffusion within shrinking domains.
title Herding of proteins by the ends of shrinking polymers
topic Biological Physics
Subcellular Processes
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.07757