Microtubules are essential cytoskeletal polymers with critical roles in cell division, cell shape, intracellular transport, and cell motility. To carry out all these biological functions, microtubules interact with numerous associated proteins (MAPs). Here explore how a multitude of different MAPs coordinates microtubules functions to assure cellular homeostasis. Our study has both cell biological and medical importance, as current advances in clinical genetics have resulted in the discovery of increasing numbers of disease-related mutations in MAPs, which most of the time are not mechanistically understood.
UC PI:
Eva Nogales
MCB, QB3, UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
France PI:
Carsten Janke
Genome integrity, RNA and Cancer (CNRS UMR3348), Institut Curie / CNRS