Publications by authors named "Jeffrey O Spector"
Interference Reflection Microscopy (IRM) is an optical technique that relies on the interference between the reflected light from an incident beam as it passes through materials of different refractive indices. This technique has been successfully used to image microtubules, biologically important biofilaments with a diameter of 25 nm. However, it is often desirable to image both the microtubule and microtubule interacting proteins simultaneously.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInterference Reflection Microscopy (IRM) is an optical technique that relies on the interference between the reflected light from an incident beam as it passes through materials of different refractive indices. This technique has been successfully used to image microtubules, biologically important biofilaments with a diameter of 25 nm. However, it is often desirable to image both the microtubule and microtubule interacting proteins simultaneously.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- - Microtubules are versatile and dynamic structures crucial for various cell processes, such as transporting materials inside cells, dividing cells, and forming neurons.
- - Traditional fluorescence microscopy has been commonly used to study microtubule dynamics, but it can cause damage to the microtubules and alter their behavior due to the use of fluorescent labels.
- - Dark-field imaging is a new label-free technique that provides high-quality images of microtubules without the downsides of photobleaching, allowing for better investigation of microtubule dynamics, especially in cases where fluorescent labeling isn't possible.
Spastin and katanin sever and destabilize microtubules. Paradoxically, despite their destructive activity they increase microtubule mass in vivo. We combined single-molecule total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy and electron microscopy to show that the elemental step in microtubule severing is the generation of nanoscale damage throughout the microtubule by active extraction of tubulin heterodimers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrotubules polymerize and depolymerize stochastically, a behavior essential for cell division, motility, and differentiation. While many studies advanced our understanding of how microtubule-associated proteins tune microtubule dynamics in trans, we have yet to understand how tubulin genetic diversity regulates microtubule functions. The majority of in vitro dynamics studies are performed with tubulin purified from brain tissue.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrotubules are polymers that cycle stochastically between polymerization and depolymerization, i.e. they exhibit "dynamic instability.
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