CiteULike: dchen's library [695 articles] http://www.citeulike.org/user/dchen/article/2767406 CiteULike.org en-gb Copyright © 2004-2008 citeulike.org http://www.citeulike.org/user/dchen/article/2767406 <i>Physical Review Letters, Vol. 100, No. 11. (2008)</i><br /><br />Biological activity gives rise to nonequilibrium fluctuations in the cytoplasm of cells; however, there are few methods to directly measure these fluctuations. Using a reconstituted actin cytoskeleton, we show that the bending dynamics of embedded microtubules can be used to probe local stress fluctuations. We add myosin motors that drive the network out of equilibrium, resulting in an increased amplitude and modified time dependence of microtubule bending fluctuations. We show that this behavior results from steplike forces on the order of 10 pN driven by collective motor dynamics. Nonequilibrium Microtubule Fluctuations in a Model Cytoskeleton Clifford Brangwynne Gijsje Koenderink Frederick Mackintosh David Weitz doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.118104 Physical Review Letters, Vol. 100, No. 11. (2008) 2008-05-07T21:19:39-00:00 Physical Review Letters 100 11 APS 2008 biology weitz