Research Interests

MT nucleation, MT branching, spindle formation.

Research Area

The mission of our lab is to understand how cells obtain their shape, position organelles, move materials, and segregate chromosomes during cell division. Each of those functions relies on a specific architecture of the microtubule cytoskeleton. For instance, long and stable microtubules are required in an axon, whereas short and dynamic microtubules are arranged in a spindle to segregate chromosomes. How is this specific microtubule architecture established at the molecular level? We tackle this question using biophysical methods and X-ray crystallography in order to study the mechanism by which microtubules are organized at a structural level. In addition we combine biochemical, advanced light microscopy, and cell biological methods to examine the dynamic assembly of the microtubule cytoskeleton in its biological context

Current Members

Petry, Sabine (Principal Investigator/Director)
Rale, Michael J. (Graduate Student)

Contact

Institution: Princeton University

Address:
401 Schultz Laboratory
Department of Molecular Biology
Princeton University
Washington Rd
Princeton, NJ
08544, USA

Web Page: http://molbio.princeton.edu/labs/petry/

General/Lab Fax: 609-258-2664