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Biophys. J. BioFAST: First Published December 9, 2005. doi:10.1529/biophysj.104.055483
© 2005 by the Biophysical Society.

A more recent version of this article appeared on March 1, 2006.
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MUSCLE AND CONTRACTILITY

Flexural rigidity of individual microtubules measured by a buckling force with optical traps

Mahito Kikumoto 1*, Masashi Kurachi 1, Valer Tosa 1 and Hideo Tashiro 1

1 Photodynamics Reserch center, The Institute of Physical and chemical Research (RIKEN)

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kikumoto{at}nict.go.jp.

Submitted on October 31, 2004
Revised on January 11, 2005
Accepted on 24 October 2005


  Abstract
We used direct buckling force measurements with optical traps to determine the flexural rigidity of individual microtubules bound to polystyrene beads. To optimize the accuracy of the measurement, we used two optical traps and antibody-coated beads to manipulate each microtubule. We then applied a new analytical model assuming non-axial buckling. Paclitaxel-stabilized microtubules were polymerized from purified tubulin, and the average microtubule rigidity was calculated as 2.0 x 10-24 Nm2 using this novel microtubule buckling system. This value was not dependent on microtubule length. We also measured the rigidity of paclitaxel-free microtubules, and obtained the value of 7.9 x 10-24 Nm2, which is nearly four times that measured for paclitaxel-stabilized microtubules.

Key Words: Microtubule, beads, buckling, optical traps, paclitaxel, rigidity




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Copyright © 2005 by the Biophysical Society.