title: Microtubule severing by elongation factor 1 alpha.
abstract: An activity that severs stable microtubules is thought to be involved in microtubule reorganization during the cell cycle. Here, a 48-kilodalton microtubule-severing protein was purified from Xenopus eggs and identified as translational elongation factor 1 alpha (EF-1 alpha). Bacterially expressed human EF-1 alpha also displayed microtubule-severing activity in vitro and, when microinjected into fibroblasts, induced rapid and transient fragmentation of cytoplasmic microtubule arrays. Thus, EF-1 alpha, an essential component of the eukaryotic translational apparatus, appears to have a second role as a regulator of cytoskeletal rearrangements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Kyoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shiina
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gotoh
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kubomura
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iwamatsu
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nishida
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000494:pharmacology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008870:Microtubules / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009865:Oocytes; D020648:Peptide Elongation Factor 1; D010445:Peptide Elongation Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D012685:Sepharose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D020648:Peptide Elongation Factor 1; D010445:Peptide Elongation Factors; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins; C068914:guanosine triphosphate-agarose; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D012685:Sepharose