Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 7, 2026

Directly Measuring Forces Within Reconstituted Active Microtubule Bundles
Published on: May 10, 2022
Under Tension: Kinetochores and Basic Research
1Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington 98109.
Abstract:
The Genetics Society of America's Edward Novitski Prize recognizes an extraordinary level of creativity and intellectual ingenuity in the solution of significant problems in genetics research. The 2015 winner, Sue Biggins, has made significant contributions to our understanding of how chromosomes attach to the mitotic spindle, a process essential for cell division and frequently impaired in cancer. Among other achievements, Biggins was the first to demonstrate that the Aurora B protein kinase is a key regulator of kinetochore function and that chromatin composition and centromere identity can be regulated by histone proteolysis. In 2010, Biggins and her colleagues were the first to purify kinetochores and, using this system, have already made several groundbreaking discoveries about the function and structure of these crucial components of the segregation machinery.
More Related Videos
08:10Fabrication and Implementation of a Reference-Free Traction Force Microscopy Platform
Published on: October 6, 2019
09:43A Protocol for Using Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET)-force Biosensors to Measure Mechanical Forces across the Nuclear LINC Complex
Published on: April 11, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Attachment of Sister Chromatids
Tension Response at Adherens Junctions
α-Catenin as a Mechanosensory Protein
The α-catenin of adherens junctions is an allosteric protein with three VH (vinculin...
Forces Acting on Chromosomes
Microtubules and motor proteins exert two types of forces on...
Forces Acting on Chromosomes
Studying the Cytoskeleton
Anaphase A and B
Plus-end depolymerization releases tubulin heterodimers from the terminal region of the microtubule. As tubulin subunits are lost, the Ndc80 complexes detach...