Category: Research News

Seeing a microtubule-targeting drug in action

Scientists from Utrecht University have succeeded in applying advanced microscopy to visualise the activity of the widely used drug Taxol. Taxol is often used in cancer chemotherapy. A better understanding of the precise action of the drug offers starting points … Read more

Posted in News, Research News

Quantum dots illuminate transport within the cell

Biophysicists from Utrecht University have developed a strategy for using light-emitting nanocrystals as a marker in living cells. By recording the movements of these quantum dots, they can clarify the structure and dynamics of the cytoskeleton. Their findings were published … Read more

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Growing microtubules control cancer cell invasion

Benjamin P. Bouchet, Ivar Noordstra, Miranda van Amersfoort, Eugene A. Katrukha, York-Christoph Ammon, Natalie D. ter Hoeve, Louis Hodgson, Marileen Dogterom, Patrick W.B. Derksen and Anna Akhmanova
Mesenchymal cell invasion requires cooperative regulation of persistent microtubule growth by SLAIN2 and Read more

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Are you in or are you out: intracellular transport of synaptic receptors affects synaptic architecture

Researchers from Utrecht University shed light on the intracellular transport of postsynaptic receptors in neurons

In the brain, millions of neurons transfer information with each other through synapses. At the surface of an excitatory postsynapse, receptors need to be inserted … Read more

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TRIM46 Controls Neuronal Polarity and Axon Specification by Driving the Formation of Parallel Microtubule Arrays

Sam F.B. van Beuningen, Lena Will, Martin Harterink, Anaël Chazeau, Eljo Y. van Battum, Cátia P. Frias, Mariella A.M. Franker, Eugene A. Katrukha, Riccardo Stucchi, Karin Vocking, Ana T. Antunes, Lotte Slenders, Sofia Doulkeridou, Peter Sillevis Smitt, A.F. Maarten Altelaar, Read more

Posted in News, Research News, Selected publications

Controlling organelle transport and positioning with light

Optogenetic control of organelle transport and positioning. Petra van Bergeijk, Max Adrian, Casper C. Hoogenraad, Lukas C. Kapitein. Nature DOI: doi.org/10.1038/nature14086

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14128.html
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14086.html

Proper positioning of organelles by cytoskeleton-based motor proteins underlies cellular events such as signaling, polarization, and growth. … Read more

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Microtubule minus-end binding protein CAMSAP2 controls axon specification and dendrite development

Kah Wai Yau, Sam F.B. van Beuningen, Inês Cunha-Ferreira, Bas M.C. Cloin, Eljo Y. van Battum, Lena Will, Philipp Schätzle, Roderick P. Tas, Jaap van Krugten, Eugene A. Katrukha, Kai Jiang, Phebe S. Wulf, Marina Mikhaylova, Martin Harterink, R. Jeroen Read more

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How botox binds to neurons

Benoit RM, Frey D, Hilbert M, Kevenaar JT, Wieser MM, Stirnimann CU, McMillan D, Ceska T, Lebon F, Jaussi R, Steinmetz MO, Schertler GFX, Hoogenraad CC, Capitani G and Kammerer RA, Structural basis for recognition of synaptic vesicle protein 2C Read more

Posted in News, Research News, Selected publications