Magnificent microtubules

Microtubules are a main component of the cell’s internal scaffolding (cytoskeleton). These filaments help transport organelles and proteins throughout the cell, which is important for cell migration. Their role in cell movement is central to the ability of cancer cells to metastasize and invade healthy tissues.

VICC member Irina Kaverina, Ph.D., assistant professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, and colleagues are studying a particular set of microtubules that originate from the Golgi complex – a structure inside the cell that processes and packages proteins for transport.

Kaverina and colleagues have found that depleting cells of proteins known as CLASPs eliminates these Golgi-derived microtubules, leaving only microtubules that originate from the centrosome – the main source of microtubules in the cell. They are using this cell model system to study the function of Golgi-derived microtubules.

This research – for which Kaverina was awarded a 2009 Vanderbilt Chancellor’s Award for Research and a VICC High Impact Research award in 2008 – may have important implications for cancer cell invasion and the actions of chemotherapy drugs. Their latest findings are published in the September issue of Nature Cell Biology.

Image: CLASP-depleted cells show only centrosomal microtubules (in purple). Courtesy of Paul Miller and Irina Kaverina, Ph.D.