title: Location of the guanosine triphosphate (GTP) hydrolysis site in microtubules.
abstract: The rate for GTP hydrolysis remains approximately constant during microtubule assembly from microtubular protein. This indicates that GTP hydrolysis does not accompany tubulin-GTP subunit addition to microtubule ends. We suggest that GTP, within tubulin-GTP subunits that are incorporated into microtubules, is hydrolyzed predominantly at one or both microtubule ends at an interface of a cap of tubulin-GTP subunits and a core of tubulin-GDP subunits.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases / Q000378:metabolism*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D007700:Kinetics; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases