Physical basis of spindle self-organization

Physical basis of spindle self-organization.

The cytoskeleton forms a variety of steady-state, subcellular structures that are maintained by continuous fluxes of molecules and energy. Understanding such self-organizing structures is not only crucial for cell biology but also poses a fundamental challenge for physics, since these systems are active materials that behave drastically differently from matter at or near equilibrium. Active liq...

Physical Basis of Self-Organization and Function of Membranes: Physics of Vesicles

Brain basis of self: self-organization and lessons from dreaming

Through dreaming, a different facet of the self is created as a result of a self-organizing process in the brain. Self-organization in biological systems often happens as an answer to an environmental change for which the existing system cannot cope; self-organization creates a system that can cope in the newly changed environment. In dreaming, self-organization serves the function of organizin...

A physical model of cellular self-organization

The formation of spatial patterns is a phenomenon that we can find in nonequilibrium systems. Here we model the dynamics of phytohormone auxin, responsible for plant growth, in a one-dimensional ring of 100 cells. Through the numerical integration of the differential equations that control the dynamics of auxin concentration and through a linear stability analysis of these dynamics, we determin...

Meiotic Spindle Self-Organization: One Plus One Equals Only One

Like other cellular organelles, the bipolar spindle is a structure of well-defined size and shape. Now, spindle fusion experiments using micro-manipulation have allowed current models for spindle morphogenesis and size control to be tested.