Fig. 3: Microtubule dynamics can regulate the stability of cytoplasmic partitioning.
From: Robust cytoplasmic partitioning by solving a cytoskeletal instability
a, Stability phase diagram of \(\alpha {\prime} \) − \(\theta \) versus \(\theta \) showing a stable and unstable region. The blue and orange dots correspond to numerical solutions of equation (1). The black line represents the stability criterion \(\alpha {\prime} \) = \(\theta .\) The error bars represent the 95% confidence interval of the mean. The numbers of independent tracks, lifetimes and regions of interest analysed are reported in Supplementary Tables 1–3. b, Schematics of microtubule asters and 1D density from close to the centre to the boundary. In stable asters, the microtubule density decreases from the centre. In unstable asters, the microtubule density increases from the centre because of the exponential nature of branching. c, Microtubule density profile of two AurkA asters measured as the density of plus ends of the microtubule. Experimentally measured profiles are shown in green and dark grey (n = 7 independent samples) and 1D global fit is in orange. d, Confocal microscopy time sequence of AurkA asters in interphase-arrested cytoplasmic extract showing that the asters are stable and regularly partition the cytoplasm. e, Microtubule density profile of two AurkA–Ran(Q69L) asters. Experimentally measured profiles are shown in green and dark grey (n = 5 independent samples) and the 1D global fit is in orange. f, Confocal microscopy time sequence of AurkA–Ran(Q69L) asters in interphase-arrested cytoplasmic extract showing that the asters are unstable. g, Microtubule density profile of two sperm nuclei asters with MCAK-Q710. Experimentally measured profiles are shown in green and dark grey (n = 5 independent samples) and the 1D fit is in orange. h, Confocal microscopy image of a MCAK-Q710 sperm nucleus aster. i, Comparison of aster organization dynamics with and without MCAK-Q710, showing an overall smaller aster size in the perturbed case due to a decrease of invasion events. All error bars in the profiles are s.e.m. (c,e,g).
