Dynamics and mechanics of the microtubule plus end

Joe Howard () and Anthony A. Hyman ()
Additional contact information
Joe Howard: Max Plank Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG)
Anthony A. Hyman: Max Plank Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG)

Nature, 2003, vol. 422, issue 6933, 753-758

Abstract: Abstract An important function of microtubules is to move cellular structures such as chromosomes, mitotic spindles and other organelles around inside cells. This is achieved by attaching the ends of microtubules to cellular structures; as the microtubules grow and shrink, the structures are pushed or pulled around the cell. How do the ends of microtubules couple to cellular structures, and how does this coupling regulate the stability and distribution of the microtubules? It is now clear that there are at least three properties of a microtubule end: it has alternate structures; it has a biochemical transition defined by GTP hydrolysis; and it forms a distinct target for the binding of specific proteins. These different properties can be unified by thinking of the microtubule as a molecular machine, which switches between growing and shrinking modes. Each mode is associated with a specific end structure on which end-binding proteins can assemble to modulate dynamics and couple the dynamic properties of microtubules to the movement of cellular structures.

Date: 2003
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01600 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:422:y:2003:i:6933:d:10.1038_nature01600

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature01600

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().