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Updated: Jul 27, 2026
12:20
Preparation of Segmented Microtubules to Study Motions Driven by the Disassembling Microtubule Ends
Published on: March 15, 2014
Regulating microtubule properties by modifying their organizing minus ends.
1The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, CRC Beatson Laboratories, G61 1BD, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
Molecular Cell
|December 14, 2001
Summary
Budding yeast gamma-tubulin (Tub4p) is phosphorylated at a specific tyrosine during the G1 phase. This phosphorylation event appears to control the quantity and dynamics of microtubules, crucial for cell division.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Microtubules are essential components of the cytoskeleton, involved in cell division, intracellular transport, and maintaining cell shape.
- Gamma-tubulin is a key component of the microtubule organizing center (MTOC), playing a critical role in nucleating microtubules.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the regulatory mechanisms of gamma-tubulin function in budding yeast.
- To determine the role of post-translational modifications, specifically phosphorylation, on gamma-tubulin activity.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of budding yeast cell cycle.
- Biochemical assays to detect protein phosphorylation.
- Microscopy to observe microtubule organization and dynamics.
Main Results:
- Identified a conserved tyrosine residue on budding yeast gamma-tubulin (Tub4p) that undergoes phosphorylation.
- Demonstrated that this phosphorylation occurs specifically during the G1 phase of the cell cycle.
- Observed that gamma-tubulin phosphorylation influences the number and dynamics of newly formed microtubules.
Conclusions:
- Phosphorylation of gamma-tubulin at a G1-specific tyrosine is a regulatory mechanism controlling microtubule assembly.
- This finding provides insights into the precise control of microtubule dynamics during the cell cycle.
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