Speaker: Dr. Jodi Kraus, Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University

Title of Talk: How microtubules are used to build cellular structures

^{(Jodi Kraus, Sophie M. Travis, Collin T. McManus, Kiana Golden, Rui Zhang, Sabine Petry)}

Abstract: Cells construct complex architectures to achieve specialized functions. Yet, the molecular rules that translate interactions between individual proteins into large-scale cellular structures remain poorly understood. Microtubules (MTs) establish cell shape and are generated by the universal MT nucleator, the γ-tubulin ring complex (γ-TuRC). Although γ-TuRC is used across cell types, the MTs it nucleates are organized into different geometries in dividing cells, neurons, and other cellular contexts. In this talk, I will dissect the mechanisms of MT nucleation and connect them to the formation of cellular architecture. My work focuses on branching MT nucleation, the primary pathway that builds the mitotic spindle during cell division. During branching, new MTs are nucleated from the sides of existing ones, generating dense, polarized networks through the activity of the branching factor augmin. Our work shows how augmin is spatially regulated by the RanGTP pathway and how two distinct MT-binding elements within augmin tune its affinity for the MT lattice and the geometry of the resulting branches. Together, these findings illustrate how ordered and disordered protein domains encode both the location and architecture of a self-organized MT network.

https://petrylab.scholar.princeton.edu/publications/contributor/kraus-jodi/