This book presents a comprehensive collection of essential and up-to-date methods for studying both the biology of microtubules and the mechanisms of action of microtubule-interacting drugs. The book contains a straightforward presentation of readily reproducible protocols, tips for troubleshooting, and advice on avoiding common mistakes. Basic scientists and clinical researchers will benefit from this collection.

Microtubule Protocols
Editor: Zhou, Jun (Nankai University, Tianjin, China)

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 (review)
Microtubules: an overview
Richard H. Wade

Chapter 2
Large scale purification of brain tubulin with the modified Weisenberg procedure
José Manuel Andreu

Chapter 3
Purification and mass-spectrometry identification of microtubule-binding proteins from Xenopus egg extracts
Vincent Gache, Patrice Waridel, Sylvie Luche, Andrej Shevchenko and Andrei V. Popov

Chapter 4
Preparation and characterization of post-translationally modified tubulins from Artemia Franciscana
Paul A. O'Connell and Thomas H. MacRae

Chapter 5
Studying the structure of microtubules by electron microscopy
Linda A. Amos and Keiko Hirose

Chapter 6
Fluorescence microscopy of microtubules in cultured cells
Irina Semenova and Vladimir Rodionov

Chapter 7 (review)
Measurements of stathmin-tubulin interaction in solution
Marie-France Carlier

Chapter 8
Analysis of microtubule dynamics by polarized light
Rudolf Oldenbourg

Chapter 9
Visualization of spindle behavior using confocal microscopy
Adam I. Marcus

Chapter 10
Live cell approaches for studying kinetochore-microtubule interactions in Drosophila
Daniel W. Buster and David J. Sharp

Chapter 11
Analysis of tubulin transport in nerve processes
Andrey Tsvetkov and Sergey Popov

Chapter 12
Analysis of microtubule-mediated intracellular viral transport
Chunyong Liu, Min Liu and Jun Zhou

Chapter 13
Xenopus oocyte wound healing as a model system for analysis of microtubule-actin interactions
Tong Zhang and Craig A. Mandato

Chapter 14
Screening for inhibitors of microtubule-associated motor proteins
Frank Kozielski, Salvatore DeBonis and DimitriosSkoufias

Chapter 15 (review)
Clinical pharmacology and use of microtubule-targeting agents in cancer therapy
Amelia B. Zelnak

Chapter 16
Studying drug-tubulin interactions by X-ray crystallography
Audrey Dorleans, Marcel Knossow and Benoît Gigant

Chapter 17
Characterizing ligand-microtubule binding by competition methods
José Fernando Díaz and Rubén Martínez Buey

Chapter 18
Methods for studying vinca alkaloid interactions with tubulin
Sharon Lobert and John J. Correia

Chapter 19
High-throughput screening of microtubule-interacting drugs
Susan L. Bane, Rudravajhala Ravindra and Anna A. Zaydman

Chapter 20 (review)
Strategies for the development of novel taxol-like agents
Susan L. Mooberry