Single-molecule investigations of the microtubule cytoskeleton

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Cells can build an amazing variety of structures from proteins, structures notable for their range of shapes, their ability to respond to stimulus, and their motility. My scientific interests are in the biophysical mechanisms by which cells engineer these large-scale structures---in other words, the molecular basis of morphology. The subject of this grant application is the microtubule cytoskeleton. Microtubules are long, slender filaments from which the cell constructs the mitotic spindle, axonemes, and the cytoskeleton. These structures are not static. Rather, they are broken down and rebuilt as the cell undergoes differentiation and progresses through the cell cycle. My aim is to understand the means by which cells accomplish these remarkable rearrangements of their microtubules.