Connexin 43 (Cx43) is the major protein component of gap junctions that electrically couple cardiomyocytes at the intercalated disc. Oxidant stress, reduced Cx43 expression, and altered subcellular localization are present in many forms of structural heart disease. These changes in Cx43 lead to alterations in electrical conduction in the ventricle and predispose to lethal cardiac arrhythmias. I...

The centrosomal protein, CDK5RAP2, is a microcephaly protein that regulates centrosomal maturation by recruitment of a γ-tubulin ring complex (γ-TuRC) onto centrosomes. In this report, we identified a novel human centrosomal protein, Cep169, as a binding partner of CDK5RAP2, a member of microtubule plus-end-tracking proteins (+TIPs). Cep169 interacts directly with CDK5RAP2 through CM1, an evolu...

Dynamic microtubules (MTs) are essential for various intracellular events, such as mitosis. In Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells, three MT tip-localizing proteins, Msps/XMAP215, EB1, and Sentin (an EB1 cargo protein), have been identified as being critical for accelerating MT growth and promoting catastrophe events, thus resulting in the formation of dynamic MTs. However, the molecular activity ...

The apicomplexan parasite Theileria annulata transforms infected host cells, inducing uncontrolled proliferation and clonal expansion of the parasitized cell population. Shortly after sporozoite entry into the target cell, the surrounding host cell membrane is dissolved and an array of host cell microtubules (MTs) surrounds the parasite, which develops into the transforming schizont. The latter...

BACKGROUND Epithelial remodeling, in which apical-basal polarized cells switch to a migratory phenotype, plays a central role in development and disease of multicellular organisms. Although dynamic microtubules (MTs) are required for directed migration on flat surfaces, how MT dynamics are controlled or contribute to epithelial remodeling in a more physiological three-dimensional (3D) environme...

IFT172 turns traffic around lagella and cilia are constantly turning over proteins at their tips. Assembly at the tip and removal of turnover products require the intraflagellar transport (IFT) system, which uses axonemal microtubules as tracks to drop off flagellar tip proteins and return turnover products to the cell body. The change in IFT direction at the tip was discussed by Lotte Pedersen...

D ynamic microtubules grow and shrink at their plus ends, and the balance between these two processes is regulated by a host of plus end– tracking proteins (+TIPs). van der Vaart et al. (1) and Li et al. (2) describe two new +TIPs that boost microtubule dynamics in mammalian and Drosophila cells. The EB1 family of +TIPs are the master regulators of microtubule plus ends (3). " They can autonomo...