Taxol (generic name paclitaxel) is a microtubule-stabilizing drug that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of ovarian, breast, and lung cancer, as well as Kaposi's sarcoma. It is used off-label to treat gastroesophageal, endometrial, cervical, prostate, and head and neck cancers, in addition to sarcoma, lymphoma, and leukemia. Paclitaxel has long been recognized to induce mitotic arrest, which leads to cell death in a subset of the arrested population. However, recent evidence demonstrates that intratumoral concentrations of paclitaxel are too low to cause mitotic arrest and result in multipolar divisions instead. It is hoped that this insight can now be used to develop a biomarker to identify the ∼50% of patients that will benefit from paclitaxel therapy. Here I discuss the history of paclitaxel and our recently evolved understanding of its mechanism of action.

How Taxol/paclitaxel kills cancer cells

Microtubules have fundamental roles in many essential biological processes, including cell division and intracellular transport. They assemble and disassemble from their two ends, denoted the plus end and the minus end. Significant advances have been made in our understanding of microtubule plus-end-tracking proteins (+TIPs) such as end-binding protein 1 (EB1), XMAP215, selected kinesins and dynein. By contrast, information on microtubule minus-end-targeting proteins (-TIPs), such as the calmodulin-regulated spectrin-associated proteins (CAMSAPs) and Patronin, has only recently started to emerge. Here, we review our current knowledge of factors, including microtubule-targeting agents, that associate with microtubule ends to control the dynamics and function of microtubules during the cell cycle and development.

Control of microtubule organization and dynamics: two ends in the limelight

The Molecular Biology of Spindle Assembly Checkpoint Signaling Dynamics.

Carbon nanotubes for delivery of small molecule drugs

Fuelled by ATP hydrolysis, dyneins generate force and movement on microtubules in a wealth of biological processes, including ciliary beating, cell division and intracellular transport. The large mass and complexity of dynein motors have made elucidating their mechanisms a sizable task. Yet, through a combination of approaches, including X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, single-molecule assays and biochemical experiments, important progress has been made towards understanding how these giant motor proteins work. From these studies, a model for the mechanochemical cycle of dynein is emerging, in which nucleotide-driven flexing motions within the AAA+ ring of dynein alter the affinity of its microtubule-binding stalk and reshape its mechanical element to generate movement.

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Functions and mechanics of dynein motor proteins

In eukaryotes, chromosome segregation during cell division is facilitated by the kinetochore, a multiprotein structure that is assembled on centromeric DNA. The kinetochore attaches chromosomes to spindle microtubules, modulates the stability of these attachments and relays the microtubule-binding status to the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), a cell cycle surveillance pathway that delays chromosome segregation in response to unattached kinetochores. Recent studies are shaping current thinking on how each of these kinetochore-centred processes is achieved, and how their integration ensures faithful chromosome segregation, focusing on the essential roles of kinase-phosphatase signalling and the microtubule-binding KMN protein network.

Emily A. Foley

Papers

Microtubule attachment and spindle assembly checkpoint signalling at the kinetochore.