Regulation of Microtubule Dynamics During Growth Cone Guidance and Cell Migration

Microtubule plus-end tracking proteins (+TIPs) play key roles in the regulation of microtubule dynamics in vivo. These proteins bind to and regulate microtubule “plus‐ends”, which are the dynamic ends that explore and interact with the cellular periphery. Despite their importance, it is still unclear how various +TIPs interact with each other and with plus‐ends to control microtubule behaviors, particularly in vivo. My lab studies +TIP function by quantitative analysis of microtubule plus-end behaviors using high‐resolution live‐imaging data of cultured embryonic Xenopus laevis cells. Previously, we demonstrated that the transforming acidic coiled‐coil (TACC) domain family member, TACC3, can function as a +TIP to promote microtubule polymerization dynamics, in collaboration with the microtubule polymerase, XMAP215. In this talk, I will discuss recent work on how TACC3 may be mediating axon guidance, as well as how its binding partner, XMAP215, appears to promote MT-F-actin interaction in embryonic neuronal growth cones.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the roles of different cytoskeletal elements in cell migration

2. Identify what a microtubule plus-end-tracking protein is and its importance

3. Explain how XMAP215 may have a novel function in aligning different cytoskeletal elements