ArticleCurrent biology : CB2012
Estimating the microtubule GTP cap size in vivo.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers.
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Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed, 130 citations in OpenAlex.
- The microtubule GTP-tubulin cap size is modulated during cell division.Molecular biology of the cell · 2026Article
- Computational perspectives on tubulin E-hook structure and mechanisms.Biophysical reports · 2026Review
- On the curvature and relaxation of microtubule plus-end tips.Biophysical journal · 2026Article
- The microtubule GTP-tubulin cap size is modulated during cell division.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Imaging microtubule dynamics: A new frontier in biomarker development for neurodegenerative diseases.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Review
- Hydrolysis-deficient mosaic microtubules as faithful mimics of the GTP cap.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Extremely Low-Frequency and Low-Intensity Electromagnetic Field Technology (ELF-EMF) Sculpts Microtubules.The European journal of neuroscience · 2025Article
- EB3-informed dynamics of the microtubule stabilizing cap during stalled growth.Biophysical journal · 2025Article
- The GTP-tubulin cap is not the determinant of microtubule end stability in cells.Molecular biology of the cell · 2024Article
- Interface-acting nucleotide controls polymerization dynamics at microtubule plus- and minus-ends.eLife · 2024Article
- Phase separation of +TIP networks regulates microtubule dynamics.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Review
- Phase separation of EB1 guides microtubule plus-end dynamics.Nature cell biology · 2023Article
- Beyond the GTP-cap: Elucidating the molecular mechanisms of microtubule catastrophe.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2023Article
- Evidence for a HURP/EB free mixed-nucleotide zone in kinetochore-microtubules.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Counting fluorescently labeled proteins in tissues in the spinning-disk microscope using single-molecule calibrations.Molecular biology of the cell · 2022Article
- Structural transitions in the GTP cap visualized by cryo-electron microscopy of catalytically inactive microtubules.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- iASPP contributes to cell cortex rigidity, mitotic cell rounding, and spindle positioning.The Journal of cell biology · 2021Article
- Discovery of autism/intellectual disability somatic mutations in Alzheimer's brains: mutated ADNP cytoskeletal impairments and repair as a case study.Molecular psychiatry · 2021Article
- On the Relationship Between EB-3 Profiles and Microtubules Growth in Cultured Cells.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2021Article
8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Microtubules (MTs) polymerize via net addition of GTP-tubulin subunits to the MT plus end, which subsequently hydrolyze to GDP-tubulin in the MT lattice. Relatively stable GTP-tubulin subunits create a "GTP cap" at the growing MT plus end that suppresses catastrophe. To understand MT assembly regulation, we need to understand GTP hydrolysis reaction kinetics and the GTP cap size. In vitro, the GTP cap has been estimated to be as small as one layer (13 subunits) or as large as 100-200 subunits. GTP cap size estimates in vivo have not yet been reported. Using EB1-EGFP as a marker for GTP-tubulin in epithelial cells, we find on average (1) 270 EB1 dimers bound to growing MT plus ends, and (2) a GTP cap size of ∼750 tubulin subunits. Thus, in vivo, the GTP cap is far larger than previous estimates in vitro, and ∼60-fold larger than a single layer cap. We also find that the tail of a large GTP cap promotes MT rescue and suppresses shortening. We speculate that a large GTP cap provides a locally concentrated scaffold for tip-tracking proteins and confers persistence to assembly in the face of physical barriers such as the cell cortex.
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Registered trials
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.