Sorting out interphase microtubules

Mol Syst Biol. 3: 95We want to see how, in some cases at least, the forms of living things, and of the parts of living things, can be explained by physical considerations.…D'Arcy Thompson (1917)Proper organization of microtubule polymers is crucial to the form and function of all eukaryotic cells. Whether growing, dividing or polarizing, different cell types—be they neurons, plant cells or fungal cells—organize specialized microtubule patterns appropriate for their needs. Is it possible to identify the set of factors sufficient to organize microtubules in a specific cell, and to understand how the cell regulates those factors spatially and temporally such that they collectively sustain that particular cellular pattern of microtubules? In a recent issue of Cell , Marcel Janson and collaborators (Janson et al , 2007) use an elegant combination of quantitative microscopy, in vitro assays and computer simulations to try to elucidate the minimal set of components required to stably organize microtubule patterns in a unicellular eukaryote, the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe .Microtubule organization in a given cell is …