Five factors can reconstitute all three phases of microtubule polymerization dynamics.

ABSTRACT: Cytoplasmic microtubules (MTs) undergo growth, shrinkage, and pausing. However, how MT polymerization cycles are produced and spatiotemporally regulated at a molecular level is unclear, as the entire cycle has not been recapitulated in vitro with defined components. In this study, we reconstituted dynamic MT plus end behavior involving all three phases by mixing tubulin with five Drosophila melanogaster proteins (EB1, XMAP215^Msps, Sentin, kinesin-13^Klp10A, and CLASP^Mast/Orbit). When singly mixed with tubulin, CLASP^Mast/Orbit strongly inhibited MT catastrophe and reduced the growth rate. However, in the presence of the other four factors, CLASP^Mast/Orbit acted as an inducer of pausing. The mitotic kinase Plk1^Polo modulated th

SUBMITTER: Moriwaki T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5100292 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature