REGULATION OF MICROTUBULE DYNAMICS BY CDC2 PROTEIN-KINASE IN CELL-FREE-EXTRACTS OF XENOPUS EGGS

Microtubules are involved in the transport of vesicles in interphase and of the chromosomes during mitosis. Their arrangement and orientation in the cell are therefore of ′ importance and specific patterns are believed to be generated by modulations of the intrinsic dynamic instability of microtubules. Here it is shown that the interphase-metaphase transition of microtubule arrays is under the control of the cdc2 kinase that precisely regulates the dynamics and steady-state length of microtubules. © 1990 Nature Publishing Group.