Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026

High-resolution Imaging and Analysis of Individual Astral Microtubule Dynamics in Budding Yeast
Published on: April 20, 2017
Spindle assembly and the art of regulating microtubule dynamics by MAPs and Stathmin/Op18
1Dept of Biology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0357, USA. sandersen@ucsd.edu
Abstract:
The way that microtubules reorganize from their long, stable interphase configuration to form the mitotic spindle remains a challenging and unsolved question. It is now widely recognized that microtubule polymerization during the cell cycle is regulated by a balance between microtubule-stabilizing and-destabilizing factors. Stabilizing factors include a large group of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs; e.g. MAP4, XMAP215, XMAP230/XMAP4 and XMAP310) and the destabilizing factors are a growing family of proteins (e.g. Stathmin/Op18 and XKCM1). Recent studies have allowed a mechanistic dissection of how these stabilizing and destabilizing factors regulate microtubule dynamics and spindle assembly.
Related Concept Videos
Microtubule Instability
Microtubule Associated Proteins (MAPs)
Destabilization of Microtubules
The Mitotic Spindle
The bipolar configuration of the mitotic spindle facilitates chromosomal segregation, preparing the cell for division. One mechanism that ensures bipolar mitotic...
Microtubule Instability
Spindle Assembly
In most cells, centrosomes are the primary microtubule nucleation centers. In the centrosome-mediated pathway, the G2-prophase transition triggers centrosome maturation and increased microtubule nucleation. Progressive nucleation results in a microtubule array...

