Grant: Project Grant

When cells divide, the DNA in form of chromosomes is pulled into the two new daughter cells. The machinery, that exerts the force necessary for separating the chromosomes is made from tiny flexible tubes that we call microtubules. Microtubules have to form and grow very quickly and precisely during cell division. They must be very stable and very dynamic at the same time and constantly be replenished. To make these microtubules, help them grow, stabilize them and ultimately break them apart again, cells use an army of proteins, called MAPs (microtubule-associated proteins). While we know some MAPs, many of these proteins are still not well characterized or completely unknown. We are investigating a MAP that makes new microtubules and helps them grow extremely fast. The same MAP is involved in causing several types of cancer as well as making these cancers more aggressive. We will attempt to solve how this protein makes microtubules grow, how it is involved in building the machinery that divides chromosomes, why cell division is not working well when the protein is misregulated and how that can cause cancer. In addition, we will solve the structure of that protein bound to microtubules, which might help develop new anti-cancer drugs.