Category: Research News

Centriolar cap in action

Centriolar cap proteins CP110 and CPAP control slow elongation of microtubule plus ends.

Iyer SS, Chen F, Ogunmolu FE, Moradi S, Volkov VA, van Grinsven EJ, van Hoorn C, Wu J, Andrea N, Hua S, Jiang K, Vakonakis I, Potočnjak … Read more

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“Champagne corks” at microtubule tips control growth of cilia

A network of interacting ciliary tip proteins with opposing activities imparts slow and processive microtubule growth.

Saunders HAJ, van den Berg CM, Hoogebeen RA, Schweizer D, Stecker KE, Roepman R, Howes SC, Akhmanova A.
Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2025 Jan … Read more

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Aurora B controls microtubule stability to regulate abscission dynamics in stem cells

Aurora B controls microtubule stability to regulate abscission dynamics in stem cells
S. Kodba, A. Öztop, E. van Berkum, E.A. Katrukha, M.K. Iwanski, W. Nijenhuis, L.C. Kapitein, A. Chaigne
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2025.115238

Abscission is the last step of cell division. It separates … Read more

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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

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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