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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 8: Cell Mechanics I

BP 8.5: Invited Talk

Tuesday, March 28, 2023, 10:45–11:15, BAR Schö

Microtubule Lattice Dynamics — Subham Biswas¹, Rahul Grover², Cordula Reuther², Mona Grünewald¹, Stefan Diez², and •Laura Schaedel¹ — ¹Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany — ²TU Dresden, Germany

Microtubules are dynamic cytoskeletal filaments that grow and shrink by subunit addition or removal at their tips. In contrast, the microtubule lattice far from the tips was long considered to be static. The discovery of subunit loss and incorporation along the lattice far from the tips - termed lattice dynamics - led to a paradigm shift and revealed a new dimension of microtubule dynamics.

Microtubule lattice dynamics occur in vitro as well as in living cells and contribute to microtubule organization and resilience to mechanical stress. Yet, it is largely unknown which cellular mechanisms are involved in their regulation. Recent discoveries suggest that microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs), which control a variety of properties of intracellular microtubules, are a key factor in the regulation of lattice dynamics. Here, we take a closer look at MAP-regulated microtubule lattice dynamics.