Clips and clasps and cellular dynamics

The dynamic properties of microtubules are regulated by plus-end tracking proteins (+TIPs), which associate with the distal ends of microtubules. Among the +TIPs are cytoplasmic linker proteins ( CLIPs), which promote microtubule growth and regulate dynein dynactin localization, and CLIP-associating proteins (CLASPs), which stabilize specific subsets of microtubules on reception of signalling cues. CLIPs and CLASPs interact and cooperate to direct the microtubule network, thereby regulating cellular asymmetry.