Confined Nucleation and Polymer Anchoring: A Biophysical View of the Centrosome
by Dr., Marketa Schmidt-Černohorská
The centrosome presents a material science paradox: how gigapascal-stiffness microtubules might be structurally anchored within a seemingly soft, viscoelastic hydrogel matrix. In the proposed talk, I will describe this organelle as a potential "supramolecular reactor“ and suggest how self-organization can confine reactants to modulate catalytic polymer nucleation. Furthermore, we discuss the hypothetical role of the centriole in guiding the orthogonal geometry and maintaining spindle integrity in cell division.
