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Microtubules (MTs) nucleated by centrosomes form star-shaped structuresreferred to as asters. Aster motility and dynamics is vital for genomestability, cell division, polarization and differentiation. Asters move eithertowards the cell center or away from it. Here, we focus on the centeringmechanism in a membrane independent system of Xenopus cytoplasmic egg extracts.Using live microscopy and single particle tracking, we find that asters movetowards chromatinized DNA structures. The velocity and directionality profilessuggest a random walk with drift directed towards DNA. We have developed atheoretical model that can explain this movement as a result of a gradient ofMT length dynamics and MT gliding on immobilized dynein motors. In simulations,the antagonistic action of the motor species on the radial array of MTs leadsto a tug-of-war purely due to geometric considerations and aster motilityresembles a directed random-walk. Additionally our model predicts that astervelocities do not change greatly with varying initial distance from DNA. Themovement of asymmetric asters becomes increasingly super-diffusive withincreasing motor density, but for symmetric asters it becomes lesssuper-diffusive. The transition of symmetric asters from superdiffusive todiffusive mobility is the result of number fluctuations in bound motors in thetug-of-war. Overall, our model is in good agreement with experimental data inXenopus cytoplasmic extracts and predicts novel features of the collectiveeffects of motor-MT interactions.

Collective behavior of minus-ended motors in mitotic microtubule asters gliding towards DNA