Stochastic Process of Microtubule Formation

Abstract

Microtubules are tubular-shaped polymers of tubulin (a family of globular proteins) found in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells and are a component of the cytoskeleton. Microtubules are crucially involved in many cellular activities, including cell divisions (meiosis and mitosis), trafficking, and motility. Not surprisingly, dysfunctionalities of microtubules are correlated with a number of diseases, including various cancers, Alzheimer disease, and Parkinson disease. One aspect of microtubule behaviours that is of interest is the dynamic assembling (lengthening) and disassembling (shortening), which follows a stochastic process. This research investigates whether these dynamic microtubule processes can be modeled using a fractal stochastic approach.

Discipline: Physics

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Vahid Rezania