Jessica Feldman: Microtubule-organizing function dives off centrosomes

JCB • VOLUME 212 • NUMBER 5 • 2016 484 The microtubules of the mitotic spindle apparatus emanate from, and are organized by, the centrosomes: nonmembrane-bound organelles composed of centrioles embedded in a cloud of pericentriolar material (PCM) that persist throughout the cell cycle. In some cell types, including fibroblasts and many cultured cell lines, centrosomes retain their microtubule-organizing center (MTOC) function during interphase. Centrioles can also be repurposed as the base upon which cilia and fl agella are organized. Some differentiated cells lack cilia and flagella but nonetheless shift MTOC activity to noncentrosomal sites. Little is yet known about how this shift is achieved and regulated. Having competed as a diver from childhood through college, Jessica Feldman has never been afraid of leaping into the unknown. From her graduate work on centrosomal positioning in Chlamydomonas (1, 2) to her studies on noncentrosomal MTOCs (3–5), Feldman has dived deep into the question of how cells organize themselves. She and her colleagues have made new fi ndings regarding how the site of microtubule organization is designated in C. elegans gut epithelia (4, 5). We called her at her Stanford lab to learn more.