Molecular Mechanisms of Microtubule Plus-End Tracking Protein (+Tips)

Michel O. Steinmetz, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen-PSI, Switzerland ()

Molecular mechanisms of microtubule plus-end tracking protein (+TIPs)

Microtubule plus-end tracking proteins (+TIPs) are specialized microtubule-associated proteins that are conserved in all eukaryotes. They are characterized by their preferential accumulation at growing microtubule plus ends. +TIPs regulate microtubule dynamics and mediate the anchorage of microtubules to different cellular structures, including kinetochores and membrane compartments. As such, they play important roles in all microtubule-based cellular processes.+TIPs comprise a structurally and functionally diverse group of multidomain and/or multisubunit proteins, ranging in size from a few hundred up to thousands of residues. An important feature of +TIPs is their remarkable ability to form dynamic interaction networks at growing microtubule ends. In this context, the members of the evolutionary conserved end binding protein (EB) family act as master regulators of +TIP networks. EBs are able to autonomously track microtubule tips independently of any binding partner, while most of the remaining +TIPs generally require EBs to efficiently localize to growing microtubule ends. In my lecture I will discuss the molecular mechanisms used by +TIPs to get access to growing microtubule tips.

Reading:

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