A fundamental question in microtubule research is how the interactions of tubulin subunits with microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) are controlled. The answer should provide insight into the regulation of the cellular processes in which microtubules are implicated. Previous work demonstrated the interaction of MAPs with a 4-kDa C-terminal domain of tubulin alpha and beta subunits. Synthetic ...

BACKGROUND There are only four drugs for treating African trypanosomiasis, a devastating disease in sub-Saharan Africa. With slow discovery of better drugs, vaccination is viewed as the best method of control. We previously showed that antibodies to native Trypanosoma brucei brucei tubulin inhibit the growth of trypanosomes in culture. Here, we aimed to determine the effect of antibodies to bac...

Insulin receptor kinase phosphorylated tubulin in an insulin-dependent fashion. Two different populations of phosphotubulin were found. In tubulin dimers containing tyrosine at the carboxyl-terminal of their alpha subunit, phosphate was incorporated in that residue, and the phosphorylated protein did not assemble into polymers. In tubulin dimers lacking this tyrosine residue, phosphate was inco...

Mammalian peripheral and central neurons differ considerably in the composition and properties of their axonal cytoskeletons. Recent reports of the selective expression of a high molecular weight (HMW) tau protein in neurons with peripherally projecting axons have furthered the idea that the microtubules in central and peripheral neurons are disparate. In the present study, we examined the poss...

Subsets of microtubules enriched in posttranslationally detyrosinated (Gundersen, G. G., M. H. Kalnoski, and J. C. Bulinski. 1984. Cell. 38:779) or acetylated (Piperno, G., M. Le Dizet, and X. Chang. 1987. J. Cell Biol. 104:298), alpha tubulin have previously been described in interphase cultured cells. In this study an immunofluorescence comparison of these minor populations of microtubules re...

Detachment of the flagella of Chlamydomonas induces a rapid accumulation of mRNAs for tubulin and other flagellar proteins. Measurement of the rate of alpha and beta tubulin RNA synthesis during flagellar regeneration shows that deflagellation elicits a rapid, 4-7-fold burst in tubulin RNA synthesis. The synthesis rate peaks within 10-15 min, then declines back to the predeflagellation rate. Re...

Vinca alkaloids are used extensively in the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and despite their usefulness, drug resistance remains a serious clinical problem. Vinca alkaloids bind to the beta-tubulin subunit of the alpha/beta-tubulin heterodimer and inhibit polymerization of microtubules. Recent studies have implicated altered beta-tubulin isotype expression and mutatio...

We have explored the composition and stability properties of individual microtubules (MTs) in the axons of cultured sympathetic neurons. Using morphometric means to quantify the MT mass remaining in axons after various times in 2 micrograms/ml nocodazole, we observed that approximately 48% of the MT mass in the axon is labile, depolymerizing with a t1/2 of approximately 5 min, whereas the remai...

A tubulin-like protein was identified in the lower eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The following criteria were used: (i) copolymerization of the 35S-labeled yeast protein with porcine brain tubulin; (ii) immunoprecipitation of the 35S-labeled yeast protein with antiflagellar tubulin antibody; (iii) the presence of the yeast protein as a constituent of isolated yeast nuclei; and (iv) splitti...

Microtubules are polymers of alpha/beta-tubulin participating in essential cell functions. A multistep process involving distinct molecular chaperones and cofactors produces new tubulin heterodimers competent to polymerise. In vitro cofactor A (TBCA) interacts with beta-tubulin in a quasi-native state behaving as a molecular chaperone. We have used siRNA to silence TBCA expression in HeLa and M...