title: The association of heterotrimeric GTP-binding protein (Go) with microtubules.
abstract: The heterotrimeric GTP-binding regulatory proteins (G proteins) play an important role in the regulation of membrane signal transduction. Recently, we identified the association of Go protein with mitotic spindles. Here we have investigated the relationship between Go protein and microtubules. We used temperature-dependent reversible assembly and taxol methods to purify microtubules from bovine brains. Goalpha and Gbeta proteins were identified in the microtubular fraction by both methods. The Goalpha subunit in the microtubular fraction could be ADP ribosylated by pertussis toxin. Co-immunoprecipitation data also revealed that Go protein can interact with microtubules. Exogenous Go protein could be incorporated into the assembled microtubular fraction, and 5 microg/ml (60 nM) of Go protein inhibited 40% of microtubule assembly. Western blot analysis of Goalpha-1 and Goalpha-2 in microtubular fractions showed that only Goalpha-1 is associated with microtubules. We conclude that the Goalpha-1betagamma proteins are associated with microtubules and may play some role in regulating the assembly and disassembly of microtubules.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002417:Cattle; D020962:Heterotrimeric GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D011485:Protein Binding
chemical_list: D020962:Heterotrimeric GTP-Binding Proteins