A new paper from the lab of MCB Professors Georjana Barnes and David Drubin details the use of a cell-free assay in budding yeast lysates to reconstitute microtubule regulation.
The research demonstrates that the cell division cycle and the activities of specific MAPs (microtubule-associated proteins) affect both microtubule polymerization and dynamic instability (the stochastic growth and shrinkage of microtubules that are necessary for cell functioning and division).
Image credit: Bergman et al., Journal of Cell Science (2018).