title: Ring-shaped assembly of microtubules shows preferential counterclockwise motion.
abstract: In this paper, we reveal that microtubules (MTs), reconstructed from tubulin in vitro in the presence of guanosine-5'-triphosphate (GTP), have a ring or spiral shape on a motor protein-fixed surface, and these MTs show biased motion in the counterclockwise direction. By cross-linking these MTs during the sliding motion, we obtained large ring-shaped MT assemblies, 1 approximately 12.6 microm in diameter. The ratio of the rings rotating in the counterclockwise direction to those rotating in the clockwise direction was approximately 3/1. Under optimized conditions, the ratio was as high as 14/1. Thus, we successfully obtained aggregated MTs with a large hierarchic structure that shows a preferential motion, through a dynamic process in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryuzo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kakugo
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shikinaka
authors.forename: Yoshihito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Osada
authors.forename: Jian Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gong
mesh_terms: D001710:Biotin / Q000737:chemistry; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D016547:Kinesins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D008870:Microtubules / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D009068:Movement; D010316:Particle Size; D012235:Rhodamines / Q000737:chemistry; D012399:Rotation; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D013499:Surface Properties; D013997:Time Factors; D014404:Tubulin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012235:Rhodamines; D014404:Tubulin; D001710:Biotin; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate; D016547:Kinesins