Mechanisms of microtubule dynamics from single-molecule measurements.

ABSTRACT: Microtubules are dynamic polymers of αβ-tubulin heterodimers that organize the intracellular space and mediate faithful chromosome segregation. Microtubule function depends on dynamic instability, the apparently random GTPase-dependent switching between growing and shrinking. Microtubule dynamics derive from biochemical properties of individual tubulin subunits and how they interact with the polymer end, a complex environment where individual tubulins can have different numbers of neighbor contacts. A fundamental understanding of microtubule dynamics has been difficult to establish because of challenges measuring the number, strength, and nucleotide-dependence of tubulin binding sites on the microtubule end. We used an improved single-molecule assay to measure tubulin:microtubule interacti

SUBMITTER: Mondal S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12262364 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature