Cell and Chemical Biology of Microtubules

项目概要/摘要： 我们将研究微管的细胞和化学生物学，以回答基本的 细胞组织的问题和改善人类疾病的治疗。微管是 微管蛋白的动态线性聚合物。它们在物理上组织了大多数 人细胞，并作为移动细胞成分的运输轨道。它们特别 在细胞分裂过程中很重要，当它们建立分离染色体的有丝分裂纺锤体时， 在神经元中，它们提供运输轨道，为远处的突触提供新的建筑物， 个街区.我们将以蛙卵为模型系统，探讨细胞分裂的机制。我们的工作可能 帮助治疗不孕症，了解导致出生缺陷的细胞分裂错误。我们现在 细胞分裂所需的大多数蛋白质，但我们不知道它们如何共同作用， 纺锤体或位置卵裂沟。我们将使用一种新的工具，定量质谱， 同时测量青蛙卵提取物中有丝分裂纺锤体中的数百种蛋白质，以及它们是如何 竞争微管上的结合位点。我们还将结合联合收割机显微镜，生物化学和 数学建模，以了解主轴如何与细胞表面通信， 卵裂沟在神经元中，我们将研究微管蛋白是如何沿着轴突运输的，并测试一个 stathmin蛋白作为转运衔接子的新假说。这项工作将解决 这是神经元细胞生物学的基本问题，可能有助于治疗运动神经元疾病（ALS）。 靶向微管并用作药物的药物可以提供重要的见解， 成人组织中的微管生物学。这些药物包括紫杉醇， 和肺癌，以及秋水仙碱，用于治疗痛风和其他炎症性疾病。我们 我很清楚这些药物对微管的分子作用，但不知道它们是如何作用于微管的。 人体来治疗疾病。我们已经发展了新的假说的治疗作用， 这两种药物类别，并将测试这些在细胞培养和啮齿动物模型。这项工作可能会导致 旧药物的新用途，例如，我们怀疑低剂量的秋水仙碱可能有助于预防 心脏病发作和减缓肺癌的进展。它也可能导致替代药物， 活性更强毒性更小 PHS 398/2590（Rev.11/07）

Project Summary/Abstract: We will investigate the cell and chemical biology of microtubules in order to answer fundamental questions of cell organization and improve treatment of human diseases. Microtubules are dynamic, linear polymers of the protein tubulin. They physically organize the cytoplasm of most human cells, and serve as transport tracks for moving cellular components. They are particularly important during cell division, when they build mitotic spindles which separate chromosomes, and in neurons, where they provide transport tracks for supplying distant synapses with new building blocks. We will probe cell division mechanism using frog eggs as a model system. Our work may help treat infertility and understand mistakes in cell division that give rise to birth defects. We k now most of the proteins required for cell division, but we do not know how they work together to build spindles or position cleavage furrows. We will use a new tool, quantitative mass spectrometry, to simultaneously measure hundreds of proteins in mitotic spindles in frog egg extracts, and how they compete for binding sites on microtubules. We will also combine microscopy, biochemistry and mathematical modeling to learn how the spindle communicates with the cell surface to position cleavage furrows. In neurons, we will investigate how tubulin is transported down axons, and test a new hypothesis in which stathmin proteins serve as transport adapters. This work will address a fundamental question in neuronal cell biology, and may help treat motor neuron disease (ALS). Drugs that target microtubules and are used as medicines can provide important insights into microtubule biology in adult human tissues. These include paclitaxel, which is used to treat breast and lung cancer, and colchicine, which is used to treat gout and other inflammatory diseases. We understand the molecular actions of these drugs on microtubules in detail, but not how they act in the human body to treat disease. We have developed new hypothesis for the therapeutic action of both drug classes, and will test these in cell culture and rodent models. This work could lead to new uses of old drugs, for example we suspect low doses of colchicine might be useful to prevent heart attacks and slow the progression of lung cancer. It could also lead to replacement drugs that are more active and less toxic. PHS 398/2590 (Rev. 11/07) Continuation Format Page