TY - JOUR
T1 - Microtubule dynamics
T2 - moving toward a multi-scale approach
AU - Hemmat, Mahya
AU - Castle, Brian T.
AU - Odde, David J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017
PY - 2018/2/1
Y1 - 2018/2/1
N2 - Microtubule self-assembly dynamics serve to facilitate many vital cellular functions, such as chromosome segregation during mitosis and synaptic plasticity. However, the detailed atomistic basis of assembly dynamics has remained an unresolved puzzle. A key challenge is connecting together the vast range of relevant length–time scales, events happening at time scales ranging from nanoseconds, such as tubulin molecular interactions (Å–nm), to minutes–hours, such as the cellular response to microtubule dynamics during mitotic progression (μm). At the same time, microtubule interactions with associated proteins and binding agents, such as anti-cancer drugs, can strongly affect this dynamic process through atomic-level mechanisms that remain to be elucidated. New high-resolution technologies for investigating these interactions, including cryo-electron microscopy (EM) techniques and total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, are yielding important new insights. Here, we focus on recent studies of microtubule dynamics, both theoretical and experimental, and how these findings shed new light on this complex phenomenon across length–time scales, from Å to μm and from nanoseconds to minutes.
AB - Microtubule self-assembly dynamics serve to facilitate many vital cellular functions, such as chromosome segregation during mitosis and synaptic plasticity. However, the detailed atomistic basis of assembly dynamics has remained an unresolved puzzle. A key challenge is connecting together the vast range of relevant length–time scales, events happening at time scales ranging from nanoseconds, such as tubulin molecular interactions (Å–nm), to minutes–hours, such as the cellular response to microtubule dynamics during mitotic progression (μm). At the same time, microtubule interactions with associated proteins and binding agents, such as anti-cancer drugs, can strongly affect this dynamic process through atomic-level mechanisms that remain to be elucidated. New high-resolution technologies for investigating these interactions, including cryo-electron microscopy (EM) techniques and total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, are yielding important new insights. Here, we focus on recent studies of microtubule dynamics, both theoretical and experimental, and how these findings shed new light on this complex phenomenon across length–time scales, from Å to μm and from nanoseconds to minutes.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ceb.2017.12.013
DO - 10.1016/j.ceb.2017.12.013
M3 - Review article
C2 - 29351860
AN - SCOPUS:85042934046
SN - 0955-0674
VL - 50
SP - 8
EP - 13
JO - Current Opinion in Cell Biology
JF - Current Opinion in Cell Biology
ER -