Microtubules are intracellular polymers that are required for several vital
processes in eukaryotic cells including mitosis, intracellular transport and the
maintenance of asymetric cell shape. The goal of the research in this lab is to elucidate
the mechanism(s) by which microtubules contribute to these diverse phenomena. Current
work focuses on understanding the assembly and disassembly behavior of microtubules in
living cells. To analyze microtubule behavior in living cells, we have prepared
fluorescent and caged fluorescent analogs of tubulin, the subunit protein of the
microtubules. These probes are micro-injected into living cells and the dynamic behavior
of the resulting fluorescent microtubules is followed using fluorescence microscopy and
digital recording techniques. Using these techniques, we have directly observed the
dynamic changes in microtubules as cells progress through the mitotic cycle and
demonstrated that the dynamic behavior of interphase microtubules is cell type specific.
Future research will examine the regulation of microtubule dynamics throughout the cell
cycle and the contribution of microtubule assembly and disassembly behavior to chromosome
motion during mitosis. In addition, we have recently demonstrated that the dynamic
behavior of interphase microtubules is cell type specific. Molecules which interact with
microtubules to generate both the distinct microtubule behavior and the specific
arrangement of microtubules in diverse cells throughout development will also be
determined.

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Poleward Transport of TPX2 in the Mammalian Mitotic Spindle Requires Dynein, Eg5, and Microtubule Flux (with N. Ma, S. Tulu, N. Ferenz, C. Fagerstrom, and A. Mogilner), Molecular Biology of the Cell (2010)

TPX2 is a Ran-regulated spindle assembly factor that is required for kinetochore fiber formation and...

 

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Dual role for microtubules in regulating cortical contractility during cytokinesis (with K. Murphy), Journal of Cell Science (2008)

Microtubules stimulate contractile-ring formation in the equatorial cortex and simultaneously suppress contractility in the polar...

 

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Centrosome Reorientation in Wound-Edge Cells Is Cell Type Specific (with A. C. Yvon, J. W. Walker, B. A. Danowski, C. Fagerstrom, and A. Khojakov), Molecular Biology of the Cell (2002)

The reorientation of the microtubule organizing center during cell migration into a wound in the...