Structural changes accompanying GTP hydrolysis in microtubules: information from a slowly hydrolyzable analogue guanylyl-(alpha,beta)-methylene-diphosphonate.
We have used cryoelectron microscopy to try to understand the structural basis for the role of GTP hydrolysis in destabilizing the microtubule lattice. We have measured a structural difference introduced into microtubules by replacing GTP with guanylyl-(alpha,beta)-methylene-diphosphonate (GMPCPP). In a stable GMPCPP microtubule lattice, the moiré patterns change and the tubulin subunits increase in size by 1.5 A. This information provides a clue to the role of hydrolysis in inducing the structural change at the end of a microtubule during the transition from a growing to a shrinking phase.
Hyman
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Cell Biology Program, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany.
Chrétien
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Arnal
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Wade
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D000818:Animals; D006153:Guanosine Diphosphate / Q000494:pharmacology; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D007700:Kinetics; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008870:Microtubules / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008961:Models, Structural; D014404:Tubulin / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure
D014404:Tubulin; D006153:Guanosine Diphosphate; C004805:5'-guanylylmethylenebisphosphonate; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate