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Related Experiment Videos

New data on the microtubule surface lattice.

D Chrétien1, R H Wade

  • 1Laboratoire de Biologie Structurale, CEA, Grenoble, France.

Biology of the Cell
|January 1, 1991
PubMed
Summary

Microtubule self-assembly reveals diverse structures with 12-17 protofilaments. A surface lattice model explains variable protofilament incorporation, with only 13-protofilament structures showing unskewed protofilaments.

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Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Cell Biology
  • Structural Biology

Background:

  • Microtubules are dynamic polymers essential for cell structure and function.
  • In vitro tubulin polymerization exhibits multiple coexisting structures at equilibrium.
  • Understanding microtubule structural diversity is key to deciphering their biological roles.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the structural diversity of in vitro assembled microtubules using cryo-electron microscopy.
  • To analyze the protofilament number and skew in different microtubule structures.
  • To validate a proposed surface lattice accommodation mechanism for microtubule assembly.

Main Methods:

  • Cryo-electron microscopy of unfixed and unstained in vitro assembled microtubules in vitreous ice.
  • Image analysis to determine protofilament number and skew.
  • Comparison with thin sections of pelleted microtubules and axoneme fragments.

Main Results:

  • Observed microtubules with protofilament numbers ranging from twelve to seventeen.
  • Identified specific microtubule structures corresponding to 13, 14, and 15 protofilaments.
  • Confirmed that only 13-protofilament microtubules exhibit unskewed protofilaments.
  • Experimental data align with the proposed surface lattice accommodation mechanism.

Conclusions:

  • The microtubule surface lattice accommodates variable protofilament numbers through a mixed packing model.
  • This model integrates features of standard A and B lattices.
  • Protofilament skew is a distinguishing characteristic of microtubule structures, with only 13-protofilament microtubules being unskewed.

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