The lifetime of a microtubule in a mammalian cell, between its formation by poly

Question

The lifetime of a microtubule in a mammalian cell, between its formation by polymerization and its spontaneous disappearance by depolymerization, varies with the stage of the cell cycle. For an actively proliferating cell, the average lifetime is 5 minutes in interphase and 15 seconds in mitosis. If the average length of a microtubule is 20 um, how long will it be during mitosis, assuming that the rates of microtubule elongation due to the addition of the tubulin subunits in the two phases are the same? Please show your work.

Explanation / Answer

The microtubules in the mitotic spindle of dividing cells are engaged in a constant dance as they grow and shrink over and over again

Rate of growth of microtubule is approx 30 nm per second, i.e 2 micrometer per minute.

So , Since mitosis lifetime is 15 seconds , therefore the length of the microtubule during mitosis will be 30nm multiplied by 15 seconds, which is equal to 450nm (0.45 um).

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