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Updated: May 31, 2026

Optimizing Tubulin Yield from Porcine Brain Tissue
Published on: October 11, 2024
Tubulin-blocked state of VDAC studied by polymer and ATP partitioning
Philip A Gurnev1, Tatiana K Rostovtseva, Sergey M Bezrukov
1Program in Physical Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Abstract:
Recently reported functional interaction between voltage-dependent anion channel of the outer mitochondrial membrane, VDAC, and dimeric tubulin is observed as a reversible channel blockage. Using partitioning of poly-(ethylene glycol)s of different molecular weights and reversal potential measurements, we probe the size and ion selectivity of the fully open and tubulin-blocked states of VDAC reconstituted into planar lipid bilayers. While the effective radius of the channel decreases by only a factor of 1.34±0.15, the selectivity reverses from initially anionic to cationic. Directly measuring ATP partitioning we demonstrate that these changes prohibit ATP from entering the channel in its tubulin-blocked state.
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