A research team from the School of Biomedical Sciences at the LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), ...

Molecular motors are enzymes that consume chemical energy to generate mechanical work. While their motor domains step along cytoskeletal filaments, such as microtubules, their tail domains interact ...

Microtubules function in concert with associated proteins that modify microtubule behavior and/or transmit signals that effect changes in growth. To better understand how microtubules and their ...

Researchers have combined cutting-edge cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) with computational molecular modeling to produce a near atomic-resolution model of the interaction between microtubules -- ...

Almost all cell types exhibit some form of polarity; cell polarity refers to the spatial differences in shape, structure and function within a cell, which enables the cell to carry out specialized ...

Kinesin proteins eat away at microtubules, shortening them and pulling chromosomes to opposite spindle poles during cell division in most organisms. However, fission yeast lacks these proteins, and ...

Microtubules, a key component of the cytoskeleton in eukaryotic cells, serve as scaffolds and play vital roles in cellular processes such as cell division, cell migration, intracellular transport, and ...

The motion of motor proteins on biopolymers is important for diverse biological processes. Actin, microtubules, and nucleic acids can serve as one-dimensional tracks on which motor proteins move.

Certain chemotherapy drugs, including paclitaxel (Taxol), block cancer cell division by targeting microtubules—structural polymers that are critical for cell division and other functions. Such ...

This is a model for maintenance of proper microtubule polarity in dendrites. Polymerizing microtubules entering junctions encounter existing static filaments. A complex consisting of end-binding ...