Light-Patterned Microtubule Asters, Nuclear Actin, And EB3-Islands

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Controlling Organization And Forces In Active Matter Through Optically Defined Boundaries

Ross et al. | Nature Cytoskeletal networks are dynamic, reconfigurable systems exquisitely tuned by the cell to perform a variety of functions. Reconstituting the diverse organization patterns of actin and microtubule networks in vitro has been a long-standing research objective, both to gain insights into the self-organization of cytoskeletal systems as well as to engineer active-matter devices. Here, the Thomson lab uses light-dimerizable kinesin motors to reversibly bundle microtubules with high spatiotemporal control. The authors manipulate light patterns to form, move, and merge microtubule asters at will. This dynamic remodeling of microtubule structures generates fluid flow reminiscent of cytoplasmic streaming, which the authors further control in a final demonstration imparting a rotating light pattern to create an “active stir bar.”

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Significance – The ability to form light-defined compartments of active biomolecules offers a path toward engineering programmable soft matter materials inspired by nature.

Methods

MTrack: Automated Detection, Tracking, and Analysis of Dynamic Microtubules

Researchers develop a plug-in for the open-source platform Fiji that automatically identifies and tracks dynamic microtubules with sub-pixel resolution.
Kapoor et al.  |  Scientific Reports

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Reviews and Perspectives

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• Malaria-inducing Plasmodium sporozoites need at least 10 microtubules to be infectious.
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• Cortical actin redistributes forces evenly when cells are stretched.
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• Microtubule and actin crosstalk transmits forces across cells during tissue morphogenesis.
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• Targeting nonmuscle myosin II in glioblastoma impairs tumor invasion.
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• Treadmilling F-actin bundles drive the spatial exploration of microvilli on cell surfaces.
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• Acto-myosin contraction clusters chromosomes during nuclear envelope breakdown.
  Booth et al. | Tanaka Lab | eLife

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