Saishree S. Iyer and Anna Akhmanova @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social review the mechanisms controlling plus-end elongation of centriolar and ciliary #microtubules, revealing shared principles. rupress.org/jcb/article/... #Centrioles #Cilia #Cytoskeleton

📣 New preprint from our lab! How does the cell place septins to actin or microtubules (MTs) with septins being ~10-100 times less than actin/tubulin? We found a phosphorylation switch controlled by GSK3 that makes that call 🧫🔬🧵 biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.06.723191v1 1/7

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New preprint! We asked a simple question: How do very different activating adaptors all activate dynein? Turns out: same architecture, wildly different implementations 🧵👇 doi.org/10.64898/202...

A very nice study showing that there is no obvious relationship between tubulin compaction/expansion state and its nucleotide state. Indeed, there is no experimental data demonstrating that GTP-tubulin is expanded in the GTP-cap at microtubule growing ends.

1/3 Lab #Preprint alert…A cool study led by @MullickSan22454 in collab with @ms_chirps lab showing how tubulin glycylation regulates ciliary motors and MAPs in vitro. @biorxiv_biochem. #glycylation #tubulinPTMs #cilia #Intraflagellartransport. Read more biorxiv.org/content/10.648…

New preprint out: arxiv.org/pdf/2604.01057 Together with JF Joanny and Sudipta, we introduce a "new" kind of active phase separation inspired by experiments with motors and microtubules and based on transport of species along a polar "pump"! @manuelthery.bsky.social @lblanchoin.bsky.social

🥳 Excited to share our #diatom work out in @pnas.org. In a great collaboration with @nic-poulsen.bsky.social and @ulrichschwarz.bsky.social we show that diatoms modulate the curvature of their paths by dynamic switching of their cell–substrate contact sites. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2506122123

Cordula Reuther, Paula Santos-Otte, Stefan Diez and colleagues find that microtubule lattice defects facilitate spastin-mediated severing. journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/... #OpenAccess #ReadandPublish

🎉 Exciting news! Our paper has been accepted and is now published in Wiley Advanced Science! 🚀 Congratulations @bucklingmt.bsky.social Read it here: advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

Happy to share that the study is now published in Advanced Science 🙌🥳 : advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... I want to thank my co-authors and my amazing PI @lauraschaedel.bsky.social for all the help, lovely discussions and encouragement😀

An intracellular meteor shower. EB3 comets tracking growing microtubule plus-ends in a cultured cell.

Our new preprint is live!🎉 Cytosolic factors govern vimentin network architecture and mechanics. Cytosolic components shape vimentin IF networks & mechanics - beyond minimal reconstitutions. On bioRxiv now! Congrats @dyuthisreekumar.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Exciting new preprint from @schaedellab.bsky.social 🔬🧫 Vimentin network architecture and mechanics is mediated by cytosolic regulation. I can't help but marvel at the beautiful vimentin network images😍😍 I am so happy it's finally out😍😍❤️ Congratulations @dyuthisreekumar.bsky.social 👏🎉

Paclitaxel induces NM2-dependent cellular contraction independent of microtubule acetylation in live cells www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Bored over the holidays? Give our new preprint on how #microtubule lattice alteration by taxols can regulate #RhoA #signalling via GEF-H1 a read! Perhaps a new mechanism of action for taxol #chemotherapeutics during interphase. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Happy holidays ✨🎄

Now online! Structural basis of microtubule-mediated signal transduction

PhD Position in Biophysics #ScienceJobs #AcademicSky

📢Internships on cellular nematics! 🔬Come for the pretty images, stay for the cool physics: each project combines in vitro experiments with advanced microscopy and image analysis. 📧Feel free to DM or email me with any questions.

I like this movie, but a friend of mine likes to complain about the obvious stitching artifacts. I'll try harder next time, Michael. Vimentin (orange) and ER (blue) in an overnight acquisition.

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iPS cell-derived cardiac myocytes (heart muscle cells) typically beat about once per second, so I usually speed up the movies I post; otherwise, scrollers might miss the action. But every now and then, a cell looks like this in real time. #CellBiology

Go right or left? A question that we encounter very often in our daily lives, and while our decision may sometimes be hindered by the fear of making a mistake, cells DO NOT HESITATE!!! They swirl with the confidence of someone who’s always RIGHT… or LEFT!!!

Vimentin promotes actin assembly by stabilizing ATP-actin subunits at the barbed end https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.17.688760v1

Thrilled to share "in situ APEX activation" (iAPEX), a proximity labeling technology for subcellular #proteomics applied to primary #cilia. iAPEX uses an enzymatic cascade, in which a D-amino acid oxidase locally produces H2O2 to activate ascorbate peroxidase. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Dick is one of the most thoughtful folks in cell biology--this is a must read for anyone interested in microtubules!

Playing around with @kwolbachia.bsky.social 's LUT manager plugin. Absolutely love the campfire LUT🔥 😍#microtubulemonday

Expression of vimentin intermediate filaments in epithelial cells promotes cell migration and cell matrix interaction in 3D https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.18.677142v1

Have you ever wondered how microtubules withstand and respond to mechanical stress in cells? Here we show by in vitro reconstitution assays that MAP65-1 and PRC1 promote microtubule nucleation on existing lattices, especially on those with structural irregularities linked to mechanical stress.

Here's some more exciting new news from the microtubule world ✨Great work from @marianattom.bsky.social the @schaedellab.bsky.social showing how MAP65-1/PRC-1 reinforce microtubules under mechanical stress. Look at them microtubule arrays in plant cells 😍 ( To quote Verstappen, "Simply lovely")

Despite their high rigidity, microtubules (MTs) dynamically bend and buckle in cells. MT-self repair is inherent to their metastable nature, but it remains unclear whether just inherent repair mechanisms are sufficient to maintain MT integrity🧵 (1/9) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Congratulations, Subham 🎉🎉🎉 Great study and uber cool microtubule self-repair images that I can stare at for hours 😍😍😍

Upcoming interdisciplinary meeting: Cell Physics 2025 When? October 7-9, 2025 Where? Saarbruecken, Germany Relevant dates? Early-bird deadline: June 30, regular registration by August 31 Several opportunities for short-talks selected from abstracts More info at: cell-physics.uni-saarland.de