How to Measure Microtubule Dynamics
Microtubules are one of the most spectacular features in the cell: long, fairly rigid tubules that provide physical strength while at the same time serving as tracks of the intracellular transport network. In addition, they are the main constituents of the cell division machinery, and guide axonal growth and the direction of cell migration. To be able to fulfil such diverse functions, microtubules have to be arranged into suitable patterns and remodelled according to extra- and intracellular cues. Moreover, the delicate regulation of microtubule dynamics and the dynamic interactions with subcellular structures, such as kinetochores or cell adhesion sites, appear to be of crucial importance to microtubule functions. It is, therefore, important to understand microtubule dynamics and its spatiotemporal regulation at the molecular level. In this chapter, I introduce the concept of microtubule dynamics and discuss the techniques that can be employed to study microtubule dynamics in vitro and in cells, for many of which detailed protocols can be found in this volume. Microtubule dynamics is traditionally assessed by the four parameters of dynamic instability: growth and shrinkage rates, rescue and catastrophe frequencies, sometimes supplemented by pause duration. I discuss emerging issues with and alternatives to this parameter description of microtubule dynamics.
- 组成型分泌途径(constitutive secretory pathway)
- Generation of Parabiotic Mice for the Study of DC and DC Precursor Circulation
- Nonradioactive Labeling and Detection of mRNAs Hybridized onto Nucleic Acid cDNA Arrays
- Microisolation and Microanalysis of Plasmid DNA
- 自我剪接(self-splicing)
- Adsorbed Cationic Polymer Coatings for Enhanced Capillary Electrophoresis/Mass Spectrometry of Proteins
- CD8+, CD8, and Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Generation In Vitro Using flt3 Ligand
- 细胞坏死(necrosis)
- ERK5 MAPK信号通路图
- 内吞作用