title: A new point of view on the problem of G-protein aggregation. Assembly-disassembly of tubulin as an oscillation process.
abstract: Basic principles of nonlinear thermodynamics are used to develop a theory of tubulin assembly. The presence of GTP/GDP switch provides different ways for tubulin aggregation. The GTP-tubulin assembly results in determining the regime of limit cycle favoring growth of tubulin spiral with the formation of microtubules. The GDP-tubulin assembly, on the contrary, results in forming double rings. The difference between the GTP- and GDP-tubulin assemblies is that the former is a dynamical oscillation process while the latter is no more than a transition from a weakly nonequilibrium point to the equilibrium state along a thermodynamical path. Corresponding equations for the GTP- and GDP-tubulin assemblies are proposed.
authors.affiliation: Biological Faculty, St. Petersburg State University.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Tulub
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Skaletskii
authors.forename: V E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Stefanov
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Pavlenko
mesh_terms: D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014404:Tubulin / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014404:Tubulin; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins