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Abstract

Biology

Measurement of Microtubule Dynamics by Spinning Disk Microscopy in Monopolar Mitotic Spindles

Published: November 15th, 2019

DOI:

10.3791/60478

1AG Oncophysiology, Max-Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, 2Göttingen Graduate School for Neurosciences, Biophysics, and Molecular Biosciences (GGNB)

Abstract

We describe a modification of an established method to determine microtubule dynamics in living cells. The protocol is based on the expression of a genetically encoded marker for the positive ends of microtubules (EB3 labelled with tdTomato fluorescent protein) and high-speed, high-resolution, live-cell imaging using spinning disk confocal microscopy. Cell cycle synchronization and increased density of microtubules are achieved by inhibiting centrosomal separation in mitotic cells, and analysis of growth is performed using open-source U-Track software. The use of a bright and red-shifted fluorescent protein, in combination with the lower laser power and reduced exposure time required for spinning disk microscopy reduce phototoxicity and the probability of light-induced artifacts. This allows for imaging a larger number of cells in the same preparation while maintaining the cells in a growth medium under standard culture conditions. Because the analysis is performed in a supervised automatic fashion, the results are statistically robust and reproducible.

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Keywords Microtubule Dynamics

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