Short description Discovered over a century ago, the centrosome is the major microtubule organizing center of the animal cell. Over the last few years our understanding of the structure and composition of centrosomes has greatly advanced, and the demonstration of frequent centrosome anomalies in most common human tumors has sparked additional interest in the role of this organelle in a broader scientific community. This book is meant to summarize our current knowledge of the structure, function and evolution of microtubule organizing centers, primarily centrosomes. Emphasis is on the role of these organelles in development and disease (particularly cancer).
From the contents Early Studies on Centrioles and Centrosomes (J. Gall) MICROTUBULE ORGANIZATION AND DYNAMICS The tubulin superfamily (T. Stearns) Microtubule nucleation (M. Moritz) The Budding Yeast Spindle Pole Body: A Centrosome Analog (M. Winey) Dissection of basal body and centriole function in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (S. Dutcher) The Centrosome in evolution (M. Bornens) THE INTEGRATION OF CENTROSOME AND CHROMOSOME CYCLES A Proteomic approach to the inventory of the human centrosome (C. Wilkinson) The Role of the Centrosome in Cell Cycle progression (A. Fry) Centrosome duplication and its regulation in the higher animal cell (G. Sluder) A Synergy of Technologies: Using Green Fluorescent Protein Tagging and Laser Microsurgery to Study Centrosome Function and Duplication in Vertebrates (A. Khodjakov) Centrosome regulation in response to environmental and genotoxic stress (W. Theurkauf) THE CENTROSOME IN DEVELOPMENT AND TISSUE ARCHITECTURE The C. elegans centrosome during early embryonic development (A. Hyman) Centrosome in a developing organism: lessons from Drosophila (J. Raff) Centrosome inheritance during fertilization and cloning: implications for stem cell medicine and human reproduction (G. Schatten) Microtubule Organising Centres in Polarised Epithelial Cells (M. Mogensen) MICROTUBULE ORGANIZING CENTERS IN DISEASE Centrosome anomalies in cancer: from early observations to animal models (B. Brinkley) Radiation-therapy and centrosome anomalies in pancreatic cancers (N. Sato) Human papillomavirus infection and centrosome anomalies in cervical cancer (K. Münger) Interactions between centrosomes and viral and bacterial pathogens (M. Way) Basal bodies and microtubule organization in pathogenic protozoa (K. Gull)
