Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Cell Biology
Stochastic Models For Plant Microtubule Self-Organization And Structure, Ezgi Can Eren, Ram Dixit, Natarajan Gautam
Stochastic Models For Plant Microtubule Self-Organization And Structure, Ezgi Can Eren, Ram Dixit, Natarajan Gautam
Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations
One of the key enablers of shape and growth in plant cells is the cortical microtubule (CMT) system, which is a polymer array that forms an appropriately-structured scaffolding in each cell. Plant biologists have shown that stochastic dynamics and simple rules of interactions between CMTs can lead to a coaligned CMT array structure. However, the mechanisms and conditions that cause CMT arrays to become organized are not well understood. It is prohibitively time-consuming to use actual plants to study the effect of various genetic mutations and environmental conditions on CMT self-organization. In fact, even computer simulations with multiple replications are …
Expressing And Characterizing Mechanosensitive Channels In Xenopus Oocytes, Grigory Maksaev, Elizabeth S. Haswell
Expressing And Characterizing Mechanosensitive Channels In Xenopus Oocytes, Grigory Maksaev, Elizabeth S. Haswell
Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations
The oocytes of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) comprise one of the most widely used membrane protein expression systems. While frequently used for studies of transporters and ion channels, the application of this system to the study of mechanosensitive ion channels has been overlooked, perhaps due to a relative abundance of native expression systems. Recent advances, however, have illustrated the advantages of the oocyte system for studying plant and bacterial mechanosensitive channels. Here we describe in detail the methods used for heterologous expression and characterization of bacterial and plant mechanosensitive channels in Xenopus oocytes.