Microtubule assembly: lattice GTP to the rescue.
Recent work describes the surprising finding that cellular microtubules have islands of GTP-bound tubulin within their lattices, in contrast to the long-standing view that all but the very tips of growing microtubules are made up entirely of GDP-tubulin. These GTP-tubulin islands may act as stop signs or speed bumps, switching a shortening microtubule back into a growing state.
Cassimeris
Lynne
L
Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18017, USA. lc07@lehigh.edu
D006153:Guanosine Diphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D014404:Tubulin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
D014404:Tubulin; D006153:Guanosine Diphosphate; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate