Photoaffinity labeling methods have allowed a definition of the sites of interaction between Taxol and its cellular target, the microtubule, specifically beta-tubulin. Our previous studies have indicated that [(3)H]3'-(p-azidobenzamido)Taxol photolabels the N-terminal 31 amino acids of beta-tubulin (Rao, S., Krauss, N. E., Heerding, J. M., Swindell, C. S., Ringel, I., Orr, G. A., and Horwitz, S...

The temporal relationship between tubulin expression and the assembly of the mitotic spindle microtubules has been investigated during the naturally synchronous cell cycle of the Physarum plasmodium. The cell cycle behavior of the tubulin isoforms was examined by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of proteins labeled in vivo and by translation of RNA in vitro. alpha 1-, alpha 2-, beta 1-, and ...

The activation of the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdk1 at the transition from interphase to mitosis induces important changes in microtubule dynamics. Cdk1 phosphorylates a number of microtubule- or tubulin-binding proteins but, hitherto, tubulin itself has not been detected as a Cdk1 substrate. Here we show that Cdk1 phosphorylates beta-tubulin both in vitro and in vivo. Phosphorylation occurs on ...

Assembly-competent tubulin was purified from the cytoplasm of unfertilized and parthogenetically activated oocytes, and from isolated meiotic spindles of the surf clam, Spisula solidissima. At 22 degrees C or 37 degrees C, Spisula tubulin assembled into 48-51-nm macrotubules during the first cycle of polymerization and 25-nm microtubules during the third and subsequent cycles of assembly. Macro...

Class III beta-tubulin has been discovered as a marker of early phases of neuronal differentiation in developmental conditions, as well as in different tumours of neuronal origin. More recently, the expression of class III beta-tubulin molecule has been described as a marker of different types of malignant epithelial tumours. This study attempts to compare the immunostaining features of two dif...

A DNA fragment from yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) was identified by its homology to a chicken beta-tubulin cDNA and cloned. The fragment was shown to be unique in the yeast genome and to contain the gene for yeast beta-tubulin, since it can complement a benomyl-resistant conditional-lethal mutation. A smaller subfragment, when used to direct integration of a plasmid to the benomyl resistance...

The nucleotide sequence of a chicken genomic DNA segment containing the chicken beta 4 tubulin gene has been determined. The predicted amino acid sequence of beta 4 is surprisingly divergent from that of the chicken beta 2 gene that encodes the dominant neural beta tubulin. beta 4 differs from beta 2 at 36 residue positions and encodes a polypeptide that is four amino acids longer, yielding a d...

Advanced stage neuroblastoma has a poor clinical outcome and microtubule-destabilizing agents, such as the Vinca alkaloids, are an important component in the treatment of this childhood cancer. Vinca alkaloids bind to beta-tubulin on the alpha/beta-tubulin heterodimer and disrupt microtubule dynamics, leading to cell death. To date, studies examining the contribution of microtubules and associa...

background and objectives: a new real- time pcr protocol for the detection of trichomonas vaginalis in pooled urine samples has been optimized and validated. materials and methods: the amplification protocol, targeting a 2kb repeated gene in the t. vaginalis genome, was optimized by varying pcr parameters. as a reference method, a real-time pcr protocol targeting the beta-tubulin gene (y. versl...