Latest Findings on Skeletal Structure of the Cell

Scientists at Freie Universität Improve Methods for Imaging the Organization of the Cytoskeleton. Scientists at Freie Universität Berlin and the Dutch University of Utrecht have developed a method for mapping the structure of the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton is the backbone of every cell of the human body. Led by Helge Ewers, a professor of membrane biochemistry at Freie Universität Berlin, and Lukas Kapitein from Utrecht, the researchers succeeded in using light microscopy to resolve so-called microtubules with previously unmatched precision and to examine their arrangement. Microtubules - elongated cytoskeletal polymers assembled from small subunitsare particularly important for the process of cell division and for the transmission of nerve signals in the brain. In the cytoskeleton they form complex structures in bundles in which they, according to the latest measurements by the researchers, approach each other within a few billionths of a meter. The scientists' findings, which were published in the prestigious scientific journal "Nature ," may lead to new insight in the development of anticancer drugs.