Grant: Operating Grant

Cells of the body adopt different shapes. The shape comes from an internal scaffold known as the cytoskeleton. Just as our bodies have a skeleton that gives us a shape, so do cells have a "skeleton" known as the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton is built out of three components: microtubules, which are hollow tubes that are similar in mechanical strength to poles, (2) actin filaments, which can be thought of a wires, and (3) intermediate filaments, which are similar to ropes. Cells build themselves a "skeleton" by constructing a scaffold made of these poles, wires, and ropes. Importantly, many diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, lissencephaly, etc., are caused by a breakdown in the cell's ability to build and rebuild its cytoskeleton properly. This grant will pursue basic research into how cells make new components of the cytoskeleton, namely how cells make new microtubules. New microtubules are needed when cells divide and when brain cells mature, making "microtubule nucleation" an essential area of research.