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Composite Network Of Actin And Microtubule Filaments, Self-Organization And Steady-State Dynamics, Leila Farhadi

Doctoral Dissertations

Actin and microtubule filaments, with their auxiliary proteins, enable the cytoskeleton to perform vital processes in the cell by tuning the organizational, mechanical properties and dynamics of the network. Despite their critical importance and interactions in cells, we are only beginning to uncover information about the composite network. Here, I use florescence microscopy to explore the role of filaments characteristics, interactions and activities in the self-organization and steady-state dynamics of the composite network of filaments. First, I discuss active self-organization of semiflexible actin and rigid microtubule filaments in the 2D composite network while myosin II and kinesin-1 motor proteins propel …