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Updated: Mar 19, 2026

Visualizing Actin and Microtubule Coupling Dynamics In Vitro by Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence TIRF Microscopy
Published on: July 20, 2022
Visualization of Actin Assembly and Filament Turnover by In Vitro Multicolor TIRF Microscopy
Moritz Winterhoff1, Stefan Brühmann1, Christof Franke1
1Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany.
Abstract:
In response to chemotactic signals, motile cells develop a single protruding front to persistently migrate in direction of the chemotactic gradient. The highly dynamic reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton is an essential part during this process and requires the precise interplay of various actin filament assembly factors and actin-binding proteins (ABPs). Although many ABPs have been implicated in cell migration, as yet only a few of them have been well characterized concerning their specific functions during actin network assembly and disassembly. In this chapter, we describe a versatile method that allows the direct visualization of the assembly of single actin filaments and higher structures in real time by in vitro total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRF-M) using purified and fluorescently labeled actin and ABPs.
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