Molecular Encapsulation Inside Microtubules Based on Tau-Derived Peptides.

ABSTRACT: Microtubules are cytoskeletal filaments that serve as attractive scaffolds for developing nanomaterials and nanodevices because of their unique structural properties. The functionalization of the outer surface of microtubules has been established for this purpose. However, no attempts have been made to encapsulate molecules inside microtubules with 15 nm inner diameter. The encapsulation of various molecular cargos inside microtubules constitutes a new concept for nanodevice and nanocarrier applications of microtubules. Here, we developed peptide motifs for binding to the inner surface of microtubules, based on a repeat domain of the microtubule-associated protein Tau. One of the four Tau-derived peptides, 2_N , binds to a taxol binding pocket of β-tubulin located inside microtub

SUBMITTER: Inaba H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6220817 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature