background: tubulin protein being the fundamental unit of microtubules is actively involved in cell division thus making them a potential anti-cancer drug target. in spite of many reported drugs against tubulin, few of them have started developing resistance in human β-tubulin due to amino acid substitutions. methods: in this study we generated three mutants (f270v, a364t and q292e) using model...

To determine whether a minimum number of assembled microtubules is required for very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) triglyceride TG) secretion in hepatocytes, antimicrotubule drugs of different concentrations were given to rats. Hepatic VLDL-TG release was subsequently measured by a liver perfusion system, and hepatocyte ultrastructural changes were analyzed by quantitative ultrastructural meth...

Recent discovery by Perutz et al. (2002) of the physical structure of the amyloid that accumulates in neurons in certain neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease or Huntington’s disease, suggests novel mechanism of consciousness impairment, different from the neuronal loss, which is the end stage of the pathogenic process. Amyloid is shown to be water-filled nanotubes made of polymer...

Recent discovery by Perutz et al. of the physical structure of the amyloid that accumulates in neurons in certain neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease or Huntington’s disease, suggests novel mechanism of consciousness impairment, different from the neuronal loss, which is the end stage of the pathogenic process. Amyloid is shown to be water-filled nanotubes made of polymerized pa...

Cells are complex structures that held together by a thread-like web known as the cytoskeleton. Tiny tubes called microtubules major part of Microtubules can be assembled, disassembled, and reassembled again like Lego bricks. especially abundant in nerve cells brain. To do their jobs, call upon special helpers tau proteins, which keep from crumbling attaching themselves to surface tubes. Unfort...

Objective(s): Crocin, as the main carotenoid of saffron, has shown anti-tumor activity both in vitro and in vivo. Crocin might interact with cellular proteins and modulate their functions, but the exact target of this carotenoid and the other compounds of the saffron have not been discovered yet. Microtubular proteins, as one of the most important proteins inside the cells, have several functio...

Drosophila S2 cells plated on a coverslip in the presence of any actin-depolymerizing drug form long unbranched processes filled with uniformly polarized microtubules. Organelles move along these processes by microtubule motors. Easy maintenance, high sensitivity to RNAi-mediated protein knock-down and efficient procedure for creating stable cell lines make Drosophila S2 cells an ideal model sy...

this work is conducted to obtain mechanical properties of microtubule. for this aim, interaction energy in alpha-beta, beta-alpha, alpha-alpha, and beta-beta dimers was calculated using the molecular dynamic simulation. force-distance diagrams for these dimers were obtained using the relation between potential energy and force. afterwards, instead of each tubulin, one sphere with 55 kda weight ...