Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Preparation of Segmented Microtubules to Study Motions Driven by the Disassembling Microtubule Ends
Published on: March 15, 2014
Disassembly and reconstitution of a membrane-microtubule complex
Abstract:
The cell membrane of the unicellular algae Distigma proteus is associated with arrays of parallel microtubules. Fragments of the membrane-microtubule complex have been isolated and partially purified. The microtubules were stable in vitro at room temperature as well as at 0 degree C, but were specifically and rapidly disassembled by Ca2+. After removal of all endogenous microtubules, the membrane-microtubule complex could be reassembled from brain microtubule protein and denuded Distigma membrane fragments. The readded microtubules bound in a fixed orientation, and only to those regions of membrane that are normally associated with microtubules in vivo.
Related Concept Videos
Assembly of Cytoskeletal Filaments
Microtubule Formation
Destabilization of Microtubules
Assembly of Complex Microtubule Structures
Microtubule Instability
Disassembly of Intermediate Filaments
Keratin proteins, found at the cell periphery near cell junctions, undergo a cycle of assembly and disassembly. In Type...

