Research Activities Bio-assembly & -organization

Future directions

• Mechano-chemical regulation of microtubule dynamics
  Future experiments on individual microtubules will focus on obtaining a quantitative understanding of the combined effect that force and regulatory proteins have on microtubule dynamics and structure, using protein activities that we are now able to reconstitute in vitro (see above). This should also provide an alternative route to a better molecular understanding of the basic microtubule assembly process, which is still surprisingly poorly understood.

• Reconstituting the spatial organization of signalling networks
  An important future goal of our work is to establish the minimal mechanisms that lie at the basis of the cytoskeleton-based spatial organization of signalling networks in cells. To that end we will combine the set of in vitro tools that we have developed over the years to attempt the reconstitution of asymmetric protein patterns that are found for example in linearly growing fission yeast cells. These experiments will be combined with experiments in living cells to obtain relevant dynamic parameters, and with computer simulations in collaboration with the Ten Wolde group.

• Combining structural modules
  In living cells, the properties of the microtubule cytoskeleton often need to be considered in combination with other structural modules such as the (plasma) membrane and the actin cytoskeleton. In collaboration with the groups of Koenderink and Mulder, we will initiate in vitro experiments aimed at obtaining a quantitative understanding of the mechanical, dynamic, and force-generating properties of combined actin-microtubule and microtubule-membrane systems.