Tiny Edits

Microtubules are the tiny 'poles' cells use to build useful internal structures like scaffolds and lattices – helping them to divide, move and shuttle chemicals around. Microtubules need frequent pruning and re-shaping by removing some of their building blocks, a molecule called tubulin. This helps the cell adapt to changes in the environment, or during development when neurons in the brain form fragile connections. Researchers watching these tiny edits – under a high-powered microscope – find microtubules (highlighted in pink) are frequently 'severed' by a protein called spastin, and then 'rescued' by adding fresh tubulin to exposed areas of the truncated tubes (turquoise). A balance of spastin and tubulin helps to maintain healthy microtubule networks, while disruption to spastin leads to misformed microtubules. In human cells, this may cause hereditary spastic paraplegia, a neurodegenerative disease.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Video from work by Ewa Szczesna and Jeffrey O. Spector, and colleagues
• Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, MD, USA
• Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), May 2026