Imaging and Quantifying the Dynamics of γ-Tubulin at Microtubule Minus Ends in Mitotic Spindles.

Understanding the organization of complex microtubule arrays such as the mitotic spindle requires information about the position and dynamics of microtubule plus and minus ends. Whereas plus end dynamics have been widely studied using markers such as EB1-GFP, much less is known about the dynamic properties of minus ends, in part because a suitable marker has only recently become available. Here we describe the use of photoactivatable γ-tubulin-paGFP to image and quantify the dynamics of microtubule minus ends in mitotic spindles.