Microtubules - which define the shape of axons, cilia and flagella, and provide tracks for intracellular transport - can be highly bent by intracellular forces, and microtubule structure and stiffness are thought to be affected by physical constraints. Yet how microtubules tolerate the vast forces exerted on them remains unknown. Here, by using a microfluidic device, we show that microtubule stiffness decreases incrementally with each cycle of bending and release. Similar to other cases of material fatigue, the concentration of mechanical stresses on pre-existing defects in the microtubule lattice is responsible for the generation of larger damages, which further decrease microtubule stiffness. Strikingly, damaged microtubules were able to incorporate new tubulin dimers into their lattice and recover their initial stiffness. Our findings demonstrate that microtubules are ductile materials with self-healing properties, that their dynamics does not exclusively occur at their ends, and that their lattice plasticity enables the microtubules' adaptation to mechanical stresses.

SummaryThe dynamic instability of microtubules is characterised by slow growth phases stochastically interrupted by rapid depolymerisations called catastrophes. Rescue events can arrest the depolymerisation and restore microtubule elongation. However the origin of these rescue events remain unexplained. Here we show that microtubule lattice self-repair, in structurally damaged sites, is responsible for the rescue of microtubule growth. Tubulin photo-conversion in cells revealed that free tubulin dimers can incorporate along the shafts of microtubules, especially in regions where microtubules cross each other, form bundles or become bent due to mechanical constraints. These incorporation sites appeared to act as effective rescue sites ensuring microtubule rejuvenation. By securing damaged microtubule growth, the self-repair process supports a mechanosensitive growth by specifically promoting microtubule assembly in regions where they are subjected to physical constraints.

The transbilayer movement of fluorescent phospholipid analogs in liposomes was studied at the lipid phase transition of phospholipid membranes. Two NBD-labeled analogs were used, one bearing the fluorescent moiety at a short fatty acid chain in the sn-2 position (C(6)-NBD-PC) and one headgroup-labeled analog having two long fatty acyl chains (N-NBD-PE). The transbilayer redistribution of the analogs was assessed by a dithionite-based assay. We observed a drastic increase of the transbilayer movement of both analogs at the lipid phase transition of DPPC (T(c) = 41 degrees C) and DMPC (T(c) = 23 degrees C). The flip-flop of analogs was fast at the T(c) of DPPC with a half-time (t(1/2)) of ~6-10 min and even faster at the T(c) of DMPC with t(1/2) on the order of <2 min, as shown for C(6)-NBD-PC. Suppressing the phase transition by the addition of cholesterol, the rapid transbilayer movement was abolished. Molecular packing defects at the phase transition are assumed to be responsible for the rapid transbilayer movement. The relevance of those defects for understanding of the activity of flippases is discussed.