Description

Like a piece of rope fraying at its end, this image shows a microtubule transitioning from its normal tube structure to beautiful spiraling filaments in the presence of the regulatory protein tau.

This image was captured using a transmission electron microscope at 30,000X magnification. The high magnification and resolution of this imaging technique allows us to examine the effects of different proteins on microtubule structure. The unique structural changes can be used to extrapolate functional consequences of these protein-protein interactions.