Identifying MAP/microtubule affinity-regulating kinase 1 (MARK1) as a susceptibility gene for autism

kavin submitted, created time 6 months 5 days (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are common, heritable, but genetically heterogeneous neurodevelopmental conditions. The researchers recently defined a susceptibility locus for ASDs on chromosome 1q41-q42. They found that MARK1 was overexpressed in the prefrontal cortex (BA46) but not in cerebellar granule cells, on postmortem brain tissues from patients. Thus, MARK1 overexpression in humans may be responsible for subtle changes in dendritic functioning.

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Cutting the cord--mitosis and separation

sea-maid submitted, created time 6 months 1 week (www.jcb.org)

From this resport, we know that like parents sending their child off to college, a dividing cell has to let its offspring go. A microtubule-organizing protein helps ensure that the daughter cell breaks free.

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CENP-E goes fishing for microtubules

sea-maid submitted, created time 6 months 2 weeks (www.jcb.org)

From this study, the scientist found CENP-E, an essential microtubule motor that clings to the kinetochore. It was used to explain how chromosomes retain connections to the microtubules that help move them around.

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cytokinesis unveiled: forming the furrows

Reconstitution of a microtubule plus-end tracking system in vitro

Sue Wu submitted, created time 11 months 2 weeks (www.nature.com)

The microtubule cytoskeleton is essential to cell morphogenesis. Growing microtubule plus ends have emerged as dynamic regulatory sites in which specialized proteins, called plus-end-binding proteins (+TIPs), bind and regulate the proper functioning of microtubules.

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Tension and Microtubule dynamics

big pig submitted, created time 1 year 5 months (www.nature.com)

During mitosis, kinetochores attach chromosomes to the tips of growing and shortening microtubules. Asbury and colleagues demonstrate that the level of tension applied through optical tweezers to the budding yeast kinetochore component Dam1 attached to a microtubule tip determines parameters of microtubule dynamics and ultimately, the length of the mitotic microtubules.

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