Cellular roadmaps: Control of cell architecture by dynamic microtubules

Microtubules are dynamic cytoskeletal filaments that control different aspects of cell architecture. Microtubules are intrinsically asymmetric polymers, with fast-growing plus ends, which in cells serve as major sites of microtubule assembly and disassembly, and slow-growing minus ends, which are often stabilized and attached to different cellular structures. In my lab, we use in vitro assays combined with single molecule imaging to dissect how the proteins that bind to microtubule plus- and minus ends control microtubule nucleation and growth and thus regulate formation of dynamic microtubule networks or the stable cores of centrosomes and cilia. In parallel, we employ live cell imaging to study how microtubules contribute to cell polarity, migration, division and differentiation. The combination of in vitro reconstitution assays with experiments in cells allows us to decipher how the specific molecular properties of microtubule regulators contribute to cellular function and how microtubule-targeting anti-cancer drugs affect the cytoskeleton.

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