Mapping out the Microtubule Lattice in situ with Cryo-EM: Towards A Statistical Physics of Motor-Mediated Microtubule Interactions

Collective behavior of microtubules and molecular motors underlies much of sub-cellular self-organization, including the formation of the meiotic and mitotic spindles. While large-scale emergent properties of microtubule networks can be well-described using continuum theories, how these properties arise from the behaviors of motor mediated microtubule-microtubule interactions remains poorly understood, primarily due to experimental limitations in characterizing these systems at the relevant length scales. In this talk, I will discuss how recent advances in cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM), along with our ongoing work in developing novel computational analysis techniques, make it possible to resolve high-resolution behaviors in dynamical steady states of microtubules and molecular motors in situ. Our goal is to measure the positions and conformations of individual motors and microtubule lattice sites in these steady states, thereby informing statistical mechanical models for the collective behaviors of motors, such as traffic jams and, ultimately, motor mediated microtubule-microtubule interactions.