ArticleNature cell biology2017
Tubulin acetylation protects long-lived microtubules against mechanical ageing.
Article in Nature cell biology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 283 papers.
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Who cites it
283 citing papers in PubMed, 493 citations in OpenAlex.
- Taccalonolide AJ uncouples tubulin GTP hydrolysis from microtubule depolymerization.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The Role of Runx2 in Microtubule Dynamics and Its Effects on Osteoblast Migration.Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Post-Translational Modifications of Tubulin in Oocyte Maturation and Female Infertility.Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Review
- Regulation of axon outgrowth during mushroom body development by acetylated α-tubulin lysine 394 and Tau.Genetics · 2026Article
- A dual-aptazyme system for genetic complementation reveals stage-specific roles for themSphere · 2026Article
- Prognostic, diagnostic and therapeutic value of the cancer tubulin code.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2026Review
- Coordinated chromosome motion emerges from mechanical coupling mediated by the physical spindle environment.Molecular biology of the cell · 2026Article
- Microtubule stiffening by the doublecortin-domain protein ZYG-8 contributes to mitotic spindle orientation during zygote division in Caenorhabditis elegans.PLoS genetics · 2026Article
- A next-generation HDAC6 inhibitor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2026Article
- OptoTAT reveals microtubule acetylation as a rapid trigger for GEF-H1-mediated cell migration.The Journal of cell biology · 2026Article
- Tubulin glutamylation: a key regulator of flagella, cilia, centrosomes, and disease pathways.Journal of biomedical science · 2026Review
- Kinesin-Induced Buckling Reveals the Limits of Microtubule Self-Repair.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Togaram Ensures Axial Alignment of the Sperm Neck.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- TPGS1 regulates central spindle microtubule glutamylation and remodeling during telophase and abscission.EMBO reports · 2026Article
- Discovery of multitargeting single agents as a novel route to the potential treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry letters · 2026Article
- Spastin-mediated severing of glutamylated microtubules controls cardiomyocyte coupling.Nature cardiovascular research · 2026Article
- Molecular resilience of neurons to repetitive mechanical compression.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Dissecting cytoskeletal crosstalk through reconstituted actin-microtubule systems.Molecular biology of the cell · 2026Review
- Microtubule detyrosination links inflammasome activation to apoptotic cell death in macrophages upon influenza A virus infection.Journal of virology · 2026Article
- SSNA1 mechanically reinforces the damaged microtubule lattice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
223 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Long-lived microtubules endow the eukaryotic cell with long-range transport abilities. While long-lived microtubules are acetylated on Lys40 of α-tubulin (αK40), acetylation takes place after stabilization and does not protect against depolymerization. Instead, αK40 acetylation has been proposed to mechanically stabilize microtubules. Yet how modification of αK40, a residue exposed to the microtubule lumen and inaccessible to microtubule-associated proteins and motors, could affect microtubule mechanics remains an open question. Here we develop FRET-based assays that report on the lateral interactions between protofilaments and find that αK40 acetylation directly weakens inter-protofilament interactions. Congruently, αK40 acetylation affects two processes largely governed by inter-protofilament interactions, reducing the nucleation frequency and accelerating the shrinkage rate. Most relevant to the biological function of acetylation, microfluidics manipulations demonstrate that αK40 acetylation enhances flexibility and confers resilience against repeated mechanical stresses. Thus, unlike deacetylated microtubules that accumulate damage when subjected to repeated stresses, long-lived microtubules are protected from mechanical ageing through their acquisition of αK40 acetylation. In contrast to other tubulin post-translational modifications that act through microtubule-associated proteins, motors and severing enzymes, intraluminal acetylation directly tunes the compliance and resilience of microtubules.
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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.