2xrp

Publication Abstract from PubMed

Microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) are essential for regulating and organizing cellular microtubules (MTs). However, our mechanistic understanding of MAP function is limited by a lack of detailed structural information. Using cryo-electron microscopy and single particle algorithms, we solved the 8 A structure of doublecortin (DCX)-stabilized MTs. Because of DCX's unusual ability to specifically nucleate and stabilize 13-protofilament MTs, our reconstruction provides unprecedented insight into the structure of MTs with an in vivo architecture, and in the absence of a stabilizing drug. DCX specifically recognizes the corner of four tubulin dimers, a binding mode ideally suited to stabilizing both lateral and longitudinal lattice contacts. A striking consequence of this is that DCX does not bind the MT seam. DCX binding on the MT surface indirectly stabilizes conserved tubulin-tubulin lateral contacts in the MT lumen, operating independently of the nucleotide bound to tubulin. DCX's exquisite binding selectivity uncovers important insights into regulation of cellular MTs.

Template-free 13-protofilament microtubule-MAP assembly visualized at 8 A resolution.,Fourniol FJ, Sindelar CV, Amigues B, Clare DK, Thomas G, Perderiset M, Francis F, Houdusse A, Moores CA J Cell Biol. 2010 Nov 1;191(3):463-70. Epub 2010 Oct 25. PMID:20974813^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.