Coming into Focus: Mechanisms of Microtubule Minus-End Organization

Abstract

Microtubule organization has a crucial role in regulating cell architecture. The geometry of microtubule arrays strongly depends on the distribution of sites responsible for microtubule nucleation and minus-end attachment. In cycling animal cells, the centrosome often represents a dominant microtubule-organizing center (MTOC). However, even in cells with a radial microtubule system, many microtubules are not anchored at the centrosome, but are instead linked to the Golgi apparatus or other structures. Non-centrosomal microtubules predominate in many types of differentiated cell and in mitotic spindles. In this review, we discuss recent advances in understanding how the organization of centrosomal and non-centrosomal microtubule networks is controlled by proteins involved in microtubule nucleation and specific factors that recognize free microtubule minus ends and regulate their localization and dynamics.