The roles of beta-tubulin mutations and isotype expression in acquired drug resistance.

ABSTRACT: The antitumor drug paclitaxel stabilizes microtubules and reduces their dynamicity, promoting mitotic arrest and eventually apoptosis. Upon assembly of the alpha/beta-tubulin heterodimer, GTP becomes bound to both the alpha and beta-tubulin monomers. During microtubule assembly, the GTP bound to beta-tubulin is hydrolyzed to GDP, eventually reaching steady-state equilibrium between free tubulin dimers and those polymerized into microtubules. Tubulin-binding drugs such as paclitaxel interact with beta-tubulin, resulting in the disruption of this equilibrium. In spite of several crystal structures of tubulin, there is little biochemical insight into the mechanism by which anti-tubulin drugs target microtubules and alter their normal behavior. The mechanism of drug action is further complicat

SUBMITTER: Huzil JT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2675838 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature