title: Spindle assembly and the art of regulating microtubule dynamics by MAPs and Stathmin/Op18.
abstract: The way that microtubules reorganize from their long, stable interphase configuration to form the mitotic spindle remains a challenging and unsolved question. It is now widely recognized that microtubule polymerization during the cell cycle is regulated by a balance between microtubule-stabilizing and-destabilizing factors. Stabilizing factors include a large group of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs; e.g. MAP4, XMAP215, XMAP230/XMAP4 and XMAP310) and the destabilizing factors are a growing family of proteins (e.g. Stathmin/Op18 and XKCM1). Recent studies have allowed a mechanistic dissection of how these stabilizing and destabilizing factors regulate microtubule dynamics and spindle assembly.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Biology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0357, USA. sandersen@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Andersen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008868:Microtubule Proteins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008941:Spindle Apparatus / Q000378:metabolism*; D050777:Stathmin
chemical_list: D008868:Microtubule Proteins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D050777:Stathmin