Figure 2.

Fidgetin, a potential regulator of labile microtubule mass in the axon, may be a powerful target for therapeutic intervention to augment regeneration of injured adult axons.

If this hypothesis is correct, suppressing fidgetins would result in an expansion of labile microtubule domains, which we posit should be conducive to axonal regeneration. Shown in the figure are microtubules with stable and labile domains indicated in red and yellow respectively, with fidgetin shown as scissors. In the figure, for clarity of the hypothesis, the microtubules are shown with stable and labile domains aligned, but in actual fact, the microtubules are staggered along the length of the axon, so that stable and labile domains are not in alignment. Figure prepared by Andrew Matamoros.