Bianca Edozie
“Microtubule Self-Organization with Crosslinkers and Motors”
Bianca Edozie, Shashank Shekhar, Bruce Goode, Jennifer L. Ross
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Hosted by Goode's Lab
Abstract
Mitotic spindles are dynamic, self-organizing, intracellular structures that are essential for cell division. Spindles are composed of proteins, cytoskeletal elements and microtubules, which are a key component of its underlying structure. Recent studies have begun to elucidate the key proteins present in the mitotic spindle, but there is a limited understanding of how the spindles’ size and shape are controlled. To investigate these underlying mechanisms, we have reconstituted spindle-like structures assembled from a minimal set of purified proteins including tubulin and MAP65, a microtubule crosslinking protein. The resulting networks are spindle-like “tactoids,” and the morphology was observed to be particularly sensitive to the microtubule length and the concentration of crosslinker. This work will allow us to explore the effects of proteins and enzymes on mitotic spindle organization using this novel in vitro reconstitution system.
Support
MRSEC REU