title: The structure of tubulin-binding cofactor A from Leishmania major infers a mode of association during the early stages of microtubule assembly.
abstract: Tubulin-binding cofactor A (TBCA) participates in microtubule formation, a key process in eukaryotic biology to create the cytoskeleton. There is little information on how TBCA might interact with β-tubulin en route to microtubule biogenesis. To address this, the protozoan Leishmania major was targeted as a model system. The crystal structure of TBCA and comparisons with three orthologous proteins are presented. The presence of conserved features infers that electrostatic interactions that are likely to involve the C-terminal tail of β-tubulin are key to association. This study provides a reagent and template to support further work in this area.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, Scotland.
authors.forename: Keri L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Barrack
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, Scotland.
authors.forename: Paul K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Fyfe
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, Scotland.
authors.forename: William N
authors.initials: WN
authors.lastname: Hunter
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D018320:Leishmania major / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D008870:Microtubules / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D014404:Tubulin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D014404:Tubulin
keywords: chaperone; helical fold; protein–protein interactions; selenomethionine; tubulin-binding protein