Microtubule in Health and Disease
A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737). This special issue belongs to the section "Cell Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2027 | Viewed by 764
Editors
2. Centro de Química Estrutural, Institute of Molecular Sciences, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: cytoskeleton dynamics; cilia and ciliopathies; centrosome; microtubules; cell polarity; redox biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
2. Centro de Química Estrutural, Institute of Molecular Sciences, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: cytoskeleton dynamics; cilia and ciliopathies; centrosome; microtubules; cell polarity; redox biology
2. Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: aging; neurodegenerative diseases; neuronal cytoskeleton; mitochondrial bioenergetics; inflammation; omics
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Microtubules are dynamic polymers of α/β-tubulin heterodimers that undergo continuous growth and shrinkage through subunit addition and loss at their ends. Highly conserved across eukaryotes, they are central components of the cytoskeleton and essential for cellular organization, polarity, intracellular transport, migration, and morphogenesis. They also form the structural core of mitotic and meiotic spindles, centrioles, basal bodies, and ciliary axonemes, where they govern cell division, motility, and signaling.
Microtubule structure, dynamics, and functional diversity are tightly regulated by multiple mechanisms, including the availability of properly folded tubulin heterodimers (controlled by chaperones and tubulin cofactors), incorporation of distinct tubulin isotypes, diverse post-translational modifications (the “tubulin code”), and coordinated activity of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) and molecular motors. Disruption of these regulatory layers can contribute to numerous human diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, as well as cancer, ciliopathies, and developmental disorders.
Recent discoveries continue to refine our understanding of microtubule assembly and dynamics, including non-centrosomal nucleation, lattice repair, interactions with phase-separated condensates, tubulin drug binding, and motor-MAP interplay, with important implications for therapeutic development.
This Special Issue invites interdisciplinary contributions that advance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms regulating microtubule assembly, dynamics, and function, as well as their interactions with associated proteins and molecular motors. We welcome original research and review articles exploring microtubule biology in health and disease, presenting outstanding findings and new mechanistic insights.
Dr. Helena Soares
Dr. Bruno Carmona
Dr. Antonio Currais
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- microtubules
- tubulin heterodimers
- post-translational modifications
- microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs)
- microtubule molecular motors
- cilia
- centrosome
- tubulin-targeting drugs
- neurodegenerative diseases
- cancer
- ciliopathies
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