DYNAMIC INSTABILITY OF MICROTUBULES AS AN EFFICIENT WAY TO SEARCH IN-SPACE

During the formation of the mitotic spindle, dynamic microtubules sear ch for chromosomes in the surrounding cytosol. The average time requir ed to reach such ''targets'' is calculated within a simple model of dy namic instability. The values of the dynamic parameters that minimize this search time are also obtained. The results approximate well obser vations of the capture of chromosomes in prometaphase cells. Compared to usual reversible polymerization, dynamic instability reduces the ti me required to find a target by several orders of magnitude.