Aging of tubulin at neutral pH: stabilization by colchicine and its analogues

The effect of colchicine and its analogues, allocolchicine, 2,3,4-trimethoxy-4'-carbomethoxy-1,1'biphenyl, 2,3,4,4'-tetramethoxy-1,1'-biphenyl, 2,3,4-trimethoxy-4'-acetyl-1,1'-biphenyl, and tropolone methyl ether, on the aging process of tubulin has been examined. In contrast to the vinca alkaloid drugs which accelerate the formation of the paucidisperse 9 S polymers by a factor of 3.5, the colchicine class of ligands stabilize alpha,beta-tubulin. Less than 10% of the protein is transformed into the aggregates after 50 h of incubation in the presence of 1 x 10(-3) M colchicine, as compared to nearly 70-75% transformation in its absence. These results are supported by fluorescence examination of the retention of colchicine binding ability, as well as circular dichroism spectroscopy. In the presence of colchicine, the rate determining step is a conformational change, just as in its absence. The colchicine analogues which bind to tubulin in a rapidly reversible equilibrium were almost as effective in tubulin stabilization. Addition of vincristine to the system reduced the stability of the tubulin-colchicine complex. Furthermore, vincristine was found to have the same effects on the fresh complex as it does on pure tubulin; i.e., it induced the isodesmic linear polymerization and inhibited assembly into the microtubule-mimicking large polymers. This inhibition, however, was stoichiometric, whereas it is substoichiometric in the case of microtubules.