Evidence map›Paper›PMID 1421572›Full record

ArticleMolecular biology of the cell1992

Role of GTP hydrolysis in microtubule dynamics: information from a slowly hydrolyzable analogue, GMPCPP.

A A Hyman, S Salser, D N Drechsel, N Unwin, T J Mitchison

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular biology of the cell, 1992. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 182 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
182citing papers in PubMed
3.7field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

182 citing papers in PubMed, 389 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  4. A cryo-EM processing pipeline for microtubules using CryoSPARC.Acta crystallographica. Section D, Structural biology · 2026
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  5. Review
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  7. The kinesin-4 protein KIF27 forms a cytoskeletal scaffold at the transition zone to promote motile cilia structural integrity.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
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  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Modulation of the cytoskeleton for cancer therapy.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Decoding the hydrodynamic properties of microscale helical propellers from Brownian fluctuations.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023
    Article

122 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

A A HymanDepartment of Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco 94143.
S Salser
D N Drechsel
N Unwin
T J Mitchison
University of California, San Francisco · US

Funding

NIGMS NIH HHS GM-29565
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The role of GTP hydrolysis in microtubule dynamics has been reinvestigated using an analogue of GTP, guanylyl-(alpha, beta)-methylene-diphosphonate (GMPCPP). This analogue binds to the tubulin exchangeable nucleotide binding site (E-site) with an affinity four to eightfold lower than GTP and promotes the polymerization of normal microtubules. The polymerization rate of microtubules with GMPCPP-tubulin is very similar to that of GTP-tubulin. However, in contrast to microtubules polymerized with GTP, GMPCPP-microtubules do not depolymerize rapidly after isothermal dilution. The depolymerization rate of GMPCPP-microtubules is 0.1 s-1 compared with 500 s-1 for GDP-microtubules. GMPCPP also completely suppresses dynamic instability. Contrary to previous work, we find that the beta--gamma bond of GMPCPP is hydrolyzed extremely slowly after incorporation into the microtubule lattice, with a rate constant of 4 x 10(-7) s-1. Because GMPCPP hydrolysis is negligible over the course of a polymerization experiment, it can be used to test the role of hydrolysis in microtubule dynamics. Our results provide strong new evidence for the idea that GTP hydrolysis by tubulin is not required for normal polymerization but is essential for depolymerization and thus for dynamic instability. Because GMPCPP strongly promotes spontaneous nucleation of microtubules, we propose that GTP hydrolysis by tubulin also plays the important biological role of inhibiting spontaneous microtubule nucleation.

Indexed as

AnimalsBinding SitesCattleGuanosine TriphosphateHydrolysisIn Vitro TechniquesKineticsMicroscopy, ElectronMicrotubulesPolymers5'-guanylylmethylenebisphosphonateGuanosine TriphosphatePolymers

Identifiers

PMID1421572
PMCPMC275679
OpenAlexW1970611771

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.