by Playfuls Staff |
30th January 2007
A U.S.-led international study suggests microtubules use proteins that act as molecular motors and brakes to [more] organize into their correct structure.
If microtubules -- components responsible for shape, movement and replication within cells -- are not formed properly, basic functions such as cell division and transport can go wrong, creating implications in such disease processes as cancer and dementia.
"Up until now motors and brakes were studied separately from microtubules," said the study's senior author Phong Tran, a Penn State assistant professor of cell and developmental biology. "This study lets us have a more complete picture."
Co-authors of the study were Marcel Jansen, Isabelle Loiodice, and Chuanhai Fu, all from Penn State, and Rose Loughlin, Damian Brunner, and Francois Nedelec of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany.
The research appears as the cover story in the January issue of the journal Cell.
© 2007 UPI
