Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF, 698K) PPT slides of all figures Alert me when this article is cited Citation Map Services Email this article Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new content in the JCB Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Roll-Mecak, A. Articles by Vale, R. D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Roll-Mecak, A. Articles by Vale, R. D. Related Collections Related Article Social Bookmarking                            What's this?

Making more microtubules by severing: a common theme of noncentrosomal microtubule arrays?

Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158

Correspondence to Ron Vale: vale{at}cmp.ucsf.edu

Abstract

Two related enzymes, katanin and spastin, use the energy from ATP hydrolysis to sever microtubules. Two new studies (one in this issue; see McNally et al., p. 881) show that microtubule severing by katanin provides a means for increasing microtubule density in meiotic spindles. Interestingly, loss of spastin leads to a sparser microtubule array in axons and synaptic boutons. Together, these studies hint at a wider role for microtubule-severing enzymes in the formation and organization of noncentrosomal microtubule arrays by generating new seeds for microtubule growth.

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Reddit

Technorati

Twitter

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Rasi, M. Q., Parker, J. D.K., Feldman, J. L., Marshall, W. F., Quarmby, L. M. (2009). Katanin Knockdown Supports a Role for Microtubule Severing in Release of Basal Bodies before Mitosis in Chlamydomonas. Mol. Biol. Cell 20: 379-388 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Patel-Hett, S., Richardson, J. L., Schulze, H., Drabek, K., Isaac, N. A., Hoffmeister, K., Shivdasani, R. A., Bulinski, J. C., Galjart, N., Hartwig, J. H., Italiano, J. E. Jr (2008). Visualization of microtubule growth in living platelets reveals a dynamic marginal band with multiple microtubules. Blood 111: 4605-4616 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Yu, W., Qiang, L., Solowska, J. M., Karabay, A., Korulu, S., Baas, P. W. (2008). The Microtubule-severing Proteins Spastin and Katanin Participate Differently in the Formation of Axonal Branches. Mol. Biol. Cell 19: 1485-1498 [Abstract] [Full Text]  

Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents