We have utilized tau-assembled and tau-stabilized microtubules (MTs), in the absence of taxol, to investigate the effects of tau isoforms with three and four MT binding repeats upon kinesin-driven MT gliding. MTs were assembled in the presence of either 3-repeat tau (3R tau) or 4-repeat tau (4R tau) at tau:tubulin dimer molar ratios that approximate those found in neurons. MTs assembled with 3R...

We have demonstrated compression stress induced mechanical deformation of microtubules (MTs) on a two-dimensional elastic medium and investigated the role of compression strain, strain rate, and a MT-associated protein in the deformation of MTs. We show that MTs, supported on a two-dimensional substrate by a MT-associated protein kinesin, undergo buckling when they are subjected to compression ...

Acetylation of the lysine 40 of α-tubulin (K40) is a post-translational modification occurring in the lumen of microtubules (MTs) and is controlled by the α-tubulin acetyl-transferase αTAT1. How αTAT1 accesses the lumen and acetylates α-tubulin there has been an open question. Here, we report that acetylation starts at open ends of MTs and progressively spreads longitudinally from there. We obs...

DNA methytransferases (MTs) in bacteria are best understood in the context of restriction-modification (R-M) systems, which act as bacterial immune systems against incoming DNA including phages, but have also been described as selfish elements. But several orphan MTs, which are not associated with any restriction enzyme, have also been characterized and may protect against parasitism by R-M sys...

Microtubules (MTs) are hollow cylindrical polymers composed of alphabeta-tubulin heterodimers that align head-to-tail in the MT wall, forming linear protofilaments that interact laterally. We introduce a probe of the interprotofilament interactions within MTs and show that this technique gives insight into the mechanisms by which MT-associated proteins (MAPs) and taxol stabilize MTs. In additio...

A small subset of the microtubule (MT) array in many cultured cells does not exhibit the rapid turnover (t 1/2 approximately equal to 10 min) shown by most cellular MTs. The function of the stable class of MTs is unknown and has been confounded by the apparent lack of organization of stable MTs within cells. Using an antibody against detyrosinated tubulin, a post-translationally modified form o...

Purpose: Cognitive impairment is commonly observed in patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE). Recently, volumetric analysis showed widespread cortical and subcortical atrophy in patients with TLE. In this study, we hypothesized that the diffuse atrophy in TLE with and without Mesial Temporal Sclerosis (MTS) was associated with cognitive impairment. Methods: To investigate atrophy patterns i...

Metallothioneins (MTs) are small cysteine-rich proteins found in various eukaryotes. Plant MTs are classified into four types based on the arrangement of cysteine residues. To determine whether all four types of plant MTs function as metal chelators, six Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) MTs (MT1a, MT2a, MT2b, MT3, MT4a, and MT4b) were expressed in the copper (Cu)- and zinc (Zn)-sensitive yeas...

The tensegrity model hypothesizes that cytoskeleton-based microtubules (MTs) carry compression as they balance a portion of cell contractile stress. To test this hypothesis, we used traction force microscopy to measure traction at the interface of adhering human airway smooth muscle cells and a flexible polyacrylamide gel substrate. The prediction is that if MTs balance a portion of contractile...

In this study, the antibacterial and cytotoxic activities of some amino acid methyl esters (L-methionine, L-phenylalanine, L-histidine, L-lysine, L-tryptophan, L-tyrosine) were investigated. The effect ester compounds on performance was determinated against Gram-negative Gram-positive bacteria. cell viability investigated cancerous non-cancerous lines using MTS assay. results showed substances ...