Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Preparation of Segmented Microtubules to Study Motions Driven by the Disassembling Microtubule Ends
Published on: March 16, 2014
MCAK associates with the tips of polymerizing microtubules
Ayana T Moore1, Kathleen E Rankin, George von Dassow
1Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Abstract:
MCAK is a member of the kinesin-13 family of microtubule (MT)-depolymerizing kinesins. We show that the potent MT depolymerizer MCAK tracks (treadmills) with the tips of polymerizing MTs in living cells. Tip tracking of MCAK is inhibited by phosphorylation and is dependent on the extreme COOH-terminal tail of MCAK. Tip tracking is not essential for MCAK's MT-depolymerizing activity. We propose that tip tracking is a mechanism by which MCAK is preferentially localized to regions of the cell that modulate the plus ends of MTs.
Related Concept Videos
Microtubules
Microtubules
Microtubules have two structurally similar globular protein subunits: α and β tubulins. In the cytosol, the α and β tubulins form a heterodimer. These αβ-heterodimers...
Microtubule Formation
Microtubule Associated Proteins (MAPs)
Assembly of Complex Microtubule Structures
Microtubule Instability

