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PubMed2002

Assembly and activation of heme-deficient neuronal NO synthase with various porphyrins.

The heme prosthetic group of NO synthase is critical for catalytic activity as well as assembly of the enzyme to the native homodimeric form. In the current study, we examined if structurally different metal porphyrins could substitute for the native heme prosthetic group in neuronal NO synthase (nNOS) with regard to assembly and catalysis. We established, with the use of a recently developed in vitro method that functionally reconstitutes heme-deficient apo-nNOS, that Fe-mesoporphyrin IX or Fe-deuteroporphyrin IX can substitute for heme and lead to assembly of a functional nNOS, albeit with lower activity. Fe-protoporphyrin IX dimethyl ester or the metal free protoporphyrin IX, however, lead to minimal assembly of nNOS. Protoporphyrin IX compounds where the native Fe was substituted with Zn, Mn, Co, or Sn lead to assembly of nNOS, but no detectable NO was synthesized in the presence of NADPH and L-arginine. Thus, the presence of the metal and propionic acid groups, but not the vinyl moieties, of heme are important structural features in assembly of nNOS. These studies establish that the mechanism of assembly and catalysis of nNOS can be probed with structurally diverse metal porphyrins.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

LC2 involvement in the assembly of skeletal myosin filaments.

The assembly of LC2-deficient myosin was studied under conditions where control and LC2-reassociated myosin assemble around the native length of about 1.5 microns. The aim of this work was to determine how loss of LC2 affects the assembly characteristics. The findings of this study can be summarized as follows: (a) LC2-deficient myosin assembles into two populations of filaments, one around 0.5 micron in length and the other around 1 micron in length. This suggests that loss of the LC2 perturbs the length-determining mechanism. (b) The population of filaments around 0.5 micron has a diameter around 14 nm and that around 1 micron a diameter around 22 nm. Neither diameter corresponds to the 18 nm obtained with the control and LC2-reassociated myosins, suggesting that the presence of LC2 may have a role in regulating the side-to-side assembly of the myosin rods. (c) Filaments assembled from LC2-deficient myosin tend to aggregate side-by-side, but not those assembled from control and LC2-reassociated myosin. (d) The presence of MgATP has no effect on the length distribution of LC2-deficient myosin filaments in contrast to the sharpening of the distribution observed with control and reassociated myosin.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1998

The alternative conformations of amyloidogenic proteins and their multi-step assembly pathways.

The conformational change hypothesis postulates that tertiary structural changes under partially denaturing conditions convert one of 17 normally soluble and functional human proteins into an alternative conformation that subsequently undergoes self-assembly into an amyloid fibril, the putative causative agent in amyloid disease. This hypothesis is consistent with Anfinsen's view that the tertiary structure of a protein is determined both by its sequence and the aqueous environment; the latter does not always favor the normally folded state. Unlike sickle cell hemoglobin assembly, where owing to a surface mutation, hemoglobin polymerizes in its normally folded conformation, amyloid proteins self-assemble as a result of the formation of an alternative tertiary structure-a conformational intermediate formed under partially denaturing conditions. The pathway by which an amyloidogenic protein assembles into amyloid fibrils appears to involve quaternary structural intermediates that assemble into increasingly complex quaternary structures, including amyloid protofilaments, which ultimately assemble into amyloid fibrils. Several recent studies have discussed the multi-step assembly pathway(s) characterizing amyloid fibril formation.

Amyloid↗
PubMed1995

Purification and characterization of assembly-competent tubulin from Aspergillus nidulans.

We have developed a procedure for purifying assembly-competent tubulin from Aspergillus nidulans. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the purification of assembly-competent tubulin from a filamentous fungus, and the procedure should be of great value in analyzing the large number of alpha- and beta-tubulin mutations that have been isolated and characterized in A. nidulans. Our procedure consists of overproduction of alpha- and beta-tubulin, partial purification by ion-exchange chromatography, and final purification by rounds of assembly and disassembly. We have found that taxol promotes the assembly of A. nidulans tubulin into microtubules, but a higher concentration of taxol is required for maximal assembly of A. nidulans tubulin than is required for brain tubulin. The critical concentration for assembly in the presence of taxol is also significantly higher for A. nidulans tubulin than for brain tubulin. In addition, A. nidulans microtubules that were assembled and maintained in the presence of taxol depolymerized in conditions in which taxol-stabilized mammalian microtubules remain intact. These results suggest that A. nidulans tubulin has a lower affinity for taxol than mammalian tubulin.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Assembly of purified GDP-tubulin into microtubules induced by taxol and taxotere: reversibility, ligand stoichiometry, and competition.

Purified tubulin fully liganded to GDP at the exchangeable nucleotide binding site has been prepared by a new direct nucleotide exchange procedure. This normally inactive GDP-tubulin is driven to assemble into microtubules by the binding of the antitumor drug taxol or its more soluble side-chain analogue Taxotere in Mg(2+)-containing buffer, and it disassembles by cooling the solution. Therefore this ligand-induced equilibrium microtubule assembly system dispenses with the requirement of a gamma-phosphate-metal cation ligand bound at the nucleotide site for tubulin to be active. GDP-tubulin can also form characteristic pseudo-ordered aggregates of double rings. These aggregates dissociate upon warming or by addition of GTP. Back-substitution of the nucleotide gamma-phosphate permits glycerol-induced assembly without taxol and reduces the critical protein concentration required for drug-induced microtubule assembly by a factor of 2.6 +/- 0.1. The ligand-induced assembly is maximal at taxol or Taxotere concentrations equimolar with tubulin, and both drugs bind to assembled tubulin with a stoichiometry of 0.99 +/- 0.04 ligand per alpha beta dimer. Taxotere apparently competes with taxol for the same binding site, with 1.9 +/- 0.1 times larger effective affinity. Similarly, the Taxotere-induced assembly of GDP-tubulin or GTP-tubulin proceeds with a critical protein concentration 2.1 +/- 0.1 times smaller than with taxol.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Thermodynamics of tubulin polymerization into zinc sheets: assembly is not regulated by GTP hydrolysis.

The thermodynamics of tubulin assembly into Zn sheets have been studied, with special emphasis on the role of bound nucleotide and of GTP hydrolysis in polymerization. In contrast to microtubules, Zn sheets could be assembled from GDP-tubulin as well as from GTP-tubulin. Accordingly, no appreciable destabilization of the Zn sheets was observed following GTP hydrolysis and P(i) release, indicating that the binding of Zn2+ to tubulin has abolished the regulatory switch role played by GTP hydrolysis in tubulin assembly. As a consequence, the critical concentration for assembly of Zn sheets did not increase with tubulin concentration, a feature characteristic of microtubule assembly. Zn sheets do not bind P(i) analogs, indicating that the gamma-phosphate binding locus of the E-site of tubulin is occluded following GTP hydrolysis in these GDP-tubulin polymers. Nonlinear van't Hoff plots were obtained for assembly of Zn sheets in the presence of either GTP or GDP, consistent with a change in heat capacity. Enthalpy, entropy, and heat capacity changes had values similar to those reported for assembly of microtubules or polymerization of tubulin-colchicine, indicating that hydrophobic tubulin-tubulin interactions are of comparable size in these different polymers.

Aluminum↗
PubMed1983

Purification, characterization, and assembly properties of tubulin from unfertilized eggs of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus.

Tubulin was purified from unfertilized eggs of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus by chromatography of an egg supernatant fraction on DEAE-Sephacel or DEAE-cellulose followed by cycles of temperature-dependent microtubule assembly and disassembly in vitro. After two assembly cycles, the microtubule protein consisted of the alpha- and beta-tubulins (greater than 98% of the protein) and trace quantities of seven proteins with molecular weights less than 55 000; no associated proteins with molecular weights greater than tubulin were observed. When analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis on urea-polyacrylamide gradient gels, the alpha- and beta-tubulins did not precisely comigrate with their counterparts from bovine brain. Two-dimensional electrophoresis revealed that urchin egg tubulin contained two major alpha-tubulins and a single major beta species. No oligomeric structures were observed in tubulin preparations maintained at 0 degrees C. Purified egg tubulin assembled efficiently into microtubules when warmed to 37 degrees C in a glycerol-free polymerization buffer containing guanosine 5'-triphosphate. The critical concentration for assembly of once- or twice-cycled egg tubulin was 0.12-0.15 mg/mL. Morphologically normal microtubules were observed by electron microscopy, and these microtubules were depolymerized by exposure to low temperature or to podophyllotoxin. Chromatography of a twice-cycled egg tubulin preparation on phosphocellulose did not alter its protein composition and did not affect its subsequent assembly into microtubules. At concentrations above 0.5-0.6 mg/mL, a concentration-dependent "overshoot" in turbidity was observed during the assembly reaction. These results suggest that egg tubulin assembles into microtubules in the absence of the ring-shaped oligomers and microtubule-associated proteins that characterize microtubule protein from vertebrate brain.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Enthalpy changes in microtubule assembly from pure tubulin.

The enthalpy changes that occur in the self-assembly of tubulin into microtubules were examined by adiabatic differential heat capacity microcalorimetry and by isothermal batch microcalorimetry. Tubulin solutions at concentrations between 7 and 17 mg/mL were heated from 0 to 40 degrees C at heating rates of 1 or 2 deg/min in pH 6.8 or 7.0 assembly buffers containing 20 mM MES, 100 mM glutamic acid, 5 mM MgCl2, 3.4 M glycerol, and either 0.5 mM GMP-PCP or 1 mM GTP. The assembly reaction in the presence of GTP was characterized by a complex heat-uptake pattern consisting of a broad endotherm with a sharper exotherm superimposed on it, similar to assembly in a GTP phosphate buffer [Hinz, H.-J., Gorbunoff, M.J., Price, B., & Timasheff, S.N. (1979) Biochemistry 18,3084]. Replacement of GTP by the nonhydrolyzable analogue resulted in a pattern typical for an endothermic reaction only. These results have permitted the assignment of the endothermic process to microtubule assembly and of the exothermic process to the resultant GTP hydrolysis. In these studies equilibration was found to be slow, several hours of cooling being required for the system to return to its original state. Turbidity scans also revealed hysteresis between consecutive scans and a displacement of the depolymerization transition midpoint to a lower temperature than that of assembly. The disassembly of microtubules was examined in batch calorimetry experiments in pH 7.0 phosphate, 1 mM GTP, 16 mM MgCl2, and 3.4 M glycerol, in which tubulin assembled into microtubules was diluted to below the critical concentration.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Ribosomal protein L20 can replace the assembly-initiator protein L24 at low temperatures.

The assembly of the 50S subunit from Escherichia coli ribosomes is initiated by two ribosomal proteins, L24 and L3. A mutant lacking the assembly-initiator protein L24 shows distinct phenotypic features (temperature sensitivity, growth rate reduced by a factor of 6 at permissive temperatures below 34 degrees C, underproduction of 50S subunits), which could be traced back to assembly effects caused by lack of L24 [Herold, M., Nowotny, V., Dabbs, E. R., & Nierhaus, K. H. (1986) Mol. Gen. Genet. 203, 281-287]. As expected, only one assembly protein was effective during in vitro assembly at nonpermissive temperatures, whereas surprisingly the restoration of active particle formation at permissive temperatures was paralleled by the reappearance of two initiator proteins. Here we analyze the initiation of assembly at permissive temperatures in the absence of L24. We demonstrate in a series of reconstitution experiments with purified proteins that the two initiator proteins are L20 and L3. Thus, L20 can replace L24 for the initiation of assembly at permissive temperatures.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1990

GTP analogues interact with the tubulin exchangeable site during assembly and upon binding.

The question of whether nonhydrolyzable nucleotide analogues and other nucleoside triphosphates support tubulin assembly was addressed. Tubulin which contained residual GTP at the exchangeable site polymerized in the absence of added GTP in the presence of DMSO or glycerol. After maximum absorbance was reached, disassembly occurred at a slow rate. When 0.5 mM GMPPCP, GMPPNP, or ATP was included in the assembly reaction, disassembly did not occur, and about 0.1 mol of these nucleotides per mole of tubulin was incorporated into the protein. When 5 mM nucleotide was used or alkaline phosphatase was included in the case of the nonhydrolyzable analogues, a greater amount of assembly occurred and about 0.7-0.8 mol of analogue was incorporated. The products of the assembly reaction were cold-labile microtubules and protofilament ribbons. After cold-depolymerization of the microtubules and ribbons, a second cycle of assembly produced some microtubules, but cold-stable amorphous polymers were the major product. In addition, when GTP at the exchangeable site was first removed by a cycle of assembly, followed by depolymerization, assembly in the presence of GMPPCP, GMPPNP, or ATP produced a mixture of microtubules and cold-stable polymers, both of which contained bound analogue. Incorporation of GMPPCP, GMPPNP, or ATP into polymerized tubulin always occurred at the expense of GDP at the exchangeable site, the content of which decreased correspondingly. Incubation of tubulin with 5 mM GMPPCP, GMPPNP, or ATP under nonassembly conditions also displaced GDP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMed1981

Characterization of rat brain crude extract microtubule assembly: correlation of cold stability with the phosphorylation state of a microtubule-associated 64K protein.

We have conducted preliminary investigations into the control of microtubule assembly in rat brain crude extract supernatants. The rationale for these experiments is that microtubules interact with many proteins and are undoubtedly subject to physiological control mechanisms that are lost during tubulin purification. A more complete understanding of the cellular regulation of microtubules must include the physiology of these proteins. Assembly can be monitored in rat brain crude extract high-speed supernatants by measuring the increase in solution turbidity. We find that assembly is maximal in both rate and extent in the absence of added nucleotide. Increasing concentrations of either adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) or guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GTP) inhibit both initiation and elongation of microtubules. GTP appears necessary for assembly and is apparently replenished from an intrinsic energy source during the time course of the assembly reaction. Inhibition of GTP production prevents microtubule assembly, and addition of exogenous GTP will reverse the blockage. Enzymatic removal of GTP at steady state causes a rapid depolymerization to the cold-stable microtubule level. Both GTP production and microtubule assembly display periodic oscillatory maxima. Cold-stable microtubules, which are always present in rat brain crude extract preparations, are rapidly made labile by addition of ATP. Analysis of proteins in cold-stable and cold-labile microtubule fractions shows changes in protein phosphorylation but not in the microtubule-associated protein composition. The tentative conclusion is that the state of phosphorylation of a 64K protein, designated the "switch protein", determines the cold stability or lability, and therefore the dimer association and dissociation rates, of crude extract microtubules.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1980

Defective assembly of ribonucleic acid polymerase subunits in a temperature-sensitive alpha-subunit mutant of Escherichia coli.

The subunit assembly of RNA polymerase was investigated for the temperature-sensitive Escherichia coli strains carrying the mutation rpoA101 or rpoA112 in the gene encoding its alpha subunit, In cells carrying rpoA112, the sequential assembly of enzyme subunits is blocked at an early step, i.e., either the dimerization of altered alpha subunit or the subsequent association of altered alpha dimer with beta subunit. As a result, the unassembled free alpha subunit accumulates and the unassembled beta and beta' subunits are degraded rapidly, in particular at a nonpermissive temperature. The assembly defect is accompanied by an overproduction of enzyme subunits apparently due to the decrease in the concentration of repressor holoenzyme involved in the autogenous regulation. These results together with the previous observations [Ishihama, A., Shimamoto, N., Aiba, H., Kawakami, K., Nashimoto, H., Tsugawa, A., & Uchida, H. (1980) J. Mol. Biol. 137, 137-150] indicate that the temperature-sensitive growth of rpoA112 mutants is attributed to the assembly defect of RNA polymerase as well as to the thermolability of assembled polymerase. In contrast, the altered alpha subunit in a mutant carrying rpoA101 is assembled into the polymerase structure as efficiently as in wild-type cells; nevertheless, both beta and beta' subunits are rapidly degraded in this mutant. This indicates that the mutant polymerase is structurally different from the metabolically stable wild-type enzyme. Thus, the ts character of rpoA101 mutant is explained by the alteration in the structure and function of assembled RNA polymerase.

DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases↗
PubMed2003

The human islet amyloid polypeptide forms transient membrane-active prefibrillar assemblies.

The formation of amyloid fibrils by the human islet amyloid polypeptide is associated with type II diabetes. While it was previously suggested that the formed fibrils are toxic to pancreatic beta-cells due to membrane permeation activity, more recent studies suggested that protofibrillar assemblies have significantly higher potency in permeating lipid bilayers. Here, we specifically studied the membrane interaction activity of soluble and insoluble islet amyloid polypeptide assemblies at high temporal resolution. A colorimetric analysis using lipid/polydiacetylene (PDA) biomimetic vesicles clearly demonstrated the transient formation of soluble assemblies that strongly interact with the lipid vesicles. A peak in the level of membrane binding of the soluble fraction, as reflected by the colorimetric assay, was observed after incubation for approximately 1 h, followed by a decrease in the level of membrane interaction of the assemblies. The transient nature of the membrane-active assemblies was independently confirmed by a fluorescence quenching assay. Ultrastructural analysis using transmission electron microscopy provided morphological evidence of prefibrillar assemblies, supported the transient existence of membrane interacting soluble species, and facilitated observation of the non-membrane-active filaments in the solution. Taken together, our results provide experimental evidence for the formation of transient soluble prefibrillar assemblies which are highly membrane-active. The implications of these observations are discussed in light of designed fibrillization inhibitors.

Amyloid↗
PubMed2005

Regulation of myosin-IIA assembly and Mts1 binding by heavy chain phosphorylation.

Previous studies suggested that heavy chain phosphorylation regulates non-muscle myosin-II assembly in an isoform-specific manner, affecting the assembly of myosin-IIB, but not myosin-IIA. We re-examined the effects of heavy chain phosphorylation on myosin-IIA filament formation and also examined mts1 binding. We demonstrated that heavy chain phosphorylation by either protein kinase C (PKC) or casein kinase 2 (CK2) inhibits the assembly of myosin-IIA into filaments. PKC phosphorylation had no affect on mts1 binding, but CK2 phosphorylation decreased the affinity of mts1 for the myosin-IIA rod by approximately 6.5-fold. Mts1 destabilized PKC-phosphorylated myosin-IIA filaments and inhibited the assembly of myosin-IIA monomers with maximal inhibition of assembly and promotion of disassembly occurring at a molar ratio of one mts1 dimer per myosin-IIA rod. At this molar ratio, mts1 only weakly disassembled CK2-phosphorylated myosin-IIA filaments and weakly inhibited the assembly of CK2-phosphorylated myosin-IIA monomers. These observations demonstrate that CK2 phosphorylation of the myosin-IIA heavy chain protects against mts1-induced filament disassembly and inhibition of assembly, and suggest that heavy chain phosphorylation provides an additional level of regulation for the mts1-myosin-IIA interaction.

Actin Cytoskeleton↗
PubMed2006

Design of a minimal polypeptide unit for bacteriochlorophyll binding and self-assembly based on photosynthetic bacterial light-harvesting proteins.

We introduce LH1beta24, a minimal 24 amino acid polypeptide that binds and assembles bacteriochlorophylls (BChls) in micelles of octyl beta-glucoside (OG) into complexes with spectral properties that resemble those of B820, a universal intermediate in the assembly of native purple bacterial light-harvesting complexes (LHs). LH1beta24 was designed by a survey of sequences and crystal structures of bacterial LH proteins from different organisms combined with currently available information from in vitro reconstitution studies and genetically modified LHs in vivo. We took as a template for the design sphbeta31, a truncated 31 amino acid analogue of the native beta-apoprotein from the core LH complex of Rhodobacter sphaeroides. This peptide self-assembles with BChls to form B820 and, upon cooling and lowering OG concentration, forms red-shifted B850 spectral species that are considered analogous to native LH complexes. We find that LH1beta24 self-assembles with BChl in OG to form homodimeric B820-type subunits comprising two LH1beta24 and two BChl molecules per subunit. We demonstrate, by modeling the structure using the highly homologous structure of LH2 from Rhodospirillum molischianum, that it has the minimal size for BChl binding. Additionally, we have compared the self-assembly of sphbeta31 and LH1beta24 with BChls and discovered that the association enthalpies and entropies of both species are similar to those measured for native LH1 from Rhodospirillum rubrum. However, sphbeta31 readily aggregates into intermediate higher oligomeric species and further to form B850 species; moreover, the assembly process of these oligomers is not reversible, and they are apparently large nonspecific BChl-peptide coaggregates rather than well-defined nativelike LH complexes. Similar aggregates were observed during LH1beta24 assembly, but these were formed less readily and required lower temperatures than sphbeta31. In view of these results, we reevaluate previous in vitro reconstitution studies and propose alternative templates for new designs.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2006

Catalysis of covalent Lp(a) assembly: evidence for an extracellular enzyme activity that enhances disulfide bond formation.

The assembly of lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) particles occurs via a two-step mechanism in which noncovalent interactions between apolipoprotein(a) (apo(a)) and the apolipoproteinB-100 component of low density lipoprotein precede the formation of a single disulfide bond. Although we have previously demonstrated that the rate constant for the covalent step of Lp(a) assembly can be enhanced by altering the conformational status of apo(a), the resultant rates of covalent Lp(a) particle formation measured in vitro are relatively slow. The large excess of Lp(a) (over apo(a)) observed in vivo can be accounted for by a preferential clearance of apo(a) over Lp(a) and/or a sufficiently high rate of covalent Lp(a) assembly. In the present study, we report that cultured human hepatoma cells secrete an oxidase activity that dramatically enhances the rate of covalent Lp(a) assembly. This activity is likely possessed by a protein because it is heat-sensitive and is retained in the concentrate following ultrafiltration through a 5 kDa cutoff filter. However, a small molecule cofactor for the activity is suggested by the observation that the activity is lost upon dialysis. Plots of Lp(a) assembly rate versus input apo(a) concentration gave rectangular hyperbolae; the reaction displayed an unusual dependence on the concentration of apoB-100, with increasing concentrations of apoB-100 resulting in slower rates of Lp(a) assembly at low concentrations of apo(a), an effect that was alleviated by higher apo(a) concentrations. Interestingly, V(max(app))/K(m(app)) ratios were insensitive to apoB-100 concentration, which is diagnostic of a ping-pong reaction mechanism. In this way, the putative Lp(a) oxidase may be functionally analogous to protein disulfide isomerase, which exhibits a similar mechanism during the catalysis of disulfide bond formation during protein folding, although we have ruled out a role for this enzyme in Lp(a) assembly.

Apolipoprotein B-100↗
PubMed1998

Cysteine residues of photoreceptor peripherin/rds: role in subunit assembly and autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa.

Peripherin/rds is a tetraspanning membrane glycoprotein that is essential for the morphogenesis and stabilization of outer segments of vertebrate rod and cone photoreceptor cells. Mutations in the gene for peripherin/rds are responsible for retinal degeneration in the rds mouse and a variety of progressive human retinal degenerative diseases including autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa and macular dystrophy. Peripherin/rds associates with rom-1, a homologous subunit, to form a heterotetrameric complex. This study examines the importance of cysteine residues for the structure of peripherin/rds and its assembly with rom-1. Each of the 13 cysteine residues in bovine peripherin/rds was individually replaced with a serine residue by site-directed mutagenesis, and the resulting mutants were expressed individually or together with rom-1 in COS-1 cells. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, immunoprecipitation, and velocity sedimentation were carried out to evaluate the ability of these mutants to form disulfide-linked homodimers, associate with rom-1, and assemble into tetramers characteristic of wild-type peripherin/rds. Substitution of each of the six nonconserved cysteines had no apparent effect on dimer formation, folding, or subunit assembly. In contrast, replacement of any of the seven conserved cysteine residues predicted to lie within a 150 amino acid intradiscal loop significantly altered these properties. Six of these mutants, including a C214S mutant linked to autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa, were unable to fold normally, interact with rom-1, or self-assemble into tetramers but instead formed a mixture of large aggregates and a smaller component, most likely a dimer. The C150S mutant, on the other hand, was incapable of forming intermolecular disulfide bonds but did associate with rom-1 into a heterotetramer. These results suggest that (1) the conserved C150 residue is required for intermolecular disulfide bonding but not subunit assembly; (2) the six other conserved cysteine residues are crucial for proper folding and subunit assembly, possibly through formation of intramolecular disulfide bonds; and (3) the misfolding and defective subunit assembly of the C214S mutant is responsible for a form of monogenic autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Phosphate release during microtubule assembly: what stabilizes growing microtubules?

The molecular mechanism underlying microtubule dynamic instability depends on the relationship between the addition of tubulin-GTP to a growing microtubule and its hydrolysis in the microtubule lattice to tubulin-GDP, with release of inorganic phosphate (Pi). Since this relationship remains controversial, we have re-examined the release of Pi upon microtubule assembly using a fluorometric assay for Pi, based on the phosphate-binding protein of Escherichia coli [Brune M., Hunter, J. L., Corrie, J. E. T., and Webb, M. R. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 8262-8271]. Microtubule assembly and Pi release were monitored simultaneously in a standard fluorimeter as an increase in the turbidity and fluorescence, respectively, in tubulin-GTP solutions assembled under conditions supporting dynamic instability. At the steady state of assembly, Pi release is nonlinear with respect to time, proceeding at a rate determined by the following: (a) the intrinsic GTPase activity of the nonpolymerized tubulin-GTP, and (b) the microtubule number concentration, which decreases progressively. Direct observation of the time course of nucleated microtubule assembly indicates that Pi release is closely coupled to microtubule elongation, even during the initial stages of assembly when uncoupling of tubulin-GTP addition and GTP hydrolysis would be most evident. Studies of the inhibition and reversal of the growth phase by cytostatic drugs show no evidence of a burst of Pi release. We conclude that nucleotide hydrolysis can keep pace with tubulin-GTP addition rates of 200 molecules per second per microtubule and that extended caps of tubulin-GTP or tubulin-GDP-Pi are not generated in normal assembly, nor are they required to stabilize growing microtubules or to support the phenomenon of dynamic instability of microtubules at the steady state.

Animals↗