A tubulin polymerization microassay used to compare ligand efficacy

We developed tubulin purification strategies that allowed sufficient material to be produced for compound-screening projects. Tubulins were polymerized in the presence of compounds using either turbidometric or fluorescence polymerization assays. IC50 and EC50 values were calculated and used to determine ratios between host and target tubulin (TT) (e.g., IC50-neuronal tubulin/IC50-TT). This ratio can be compared between compounds to identify the ones which are most selective for a particular TT. We found ratios for different compounds ranged from 0.16 to 4.0 between neuronal and cancer cell tubulin indicating that the sequence and posttranslational heterogeneity between these tubulins are sufficient to identify selective ligands for the TT. Likewise, compounds compared between neuronal and fungal tubulin had ratios ranging from 0.03 to 0.60, and compounds compared between neuronal to plant tubulin had ratios ranging from 0.03 to 52. Considering these data, we believe cancer cell tubulin-targeted drugs could be obtained with ratios in excess of 20, herbicides with ratios in excess of 200, and fungicides in excess of 200.