ArticleThe Journal of cell biology2018
Microtubules grow by the addition of bent guanosine triphosphate tubulin to the tips of curved protofilaments.
Article in The Journal of cell biology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 92 papers.
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Who cites it
92 citing papers in PubMed.
- Microtubule end stabilisation by cooperative oligomers of Ska and Ndc80 complexes.The EMBO journal · 2026Article
- Lattice instability drives formation of protofilament clusters at the microtubule plus-end tips.Biophysical journal · 2026Article
- Adaptations in Plasmodium tubulin determine distinct microtubule architectures, mechanics and drug susceptibility.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Role of α-tubulin helix 11' in heterodimer conformation and microtubule dynamics.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- On the curvature and relaxation of microtubule plus-end tips.Biophysical journal · 2026Article
- Single-molecule microtubule dynamics measurements reveal an intermediate state and clarify the role of nucleotide.Nature communications · 2025Article
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- Spatially patterned cytoskeletal organization shapes astrocyte branch complexity.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Mechanisms of microtubule dynamics from single-molecule measurements.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Microtubule dynamics are defined by conformations and stability of clustered protofilaments.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- A network of interacting ciliary tip proteins with opposing activities imparts slow and processive microtubule growth.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2025Article
- β3 accelerates microtubule plus end maturation through a divergent lateral interface.Molecular biology of the cell · 2025Article
- Hydrolysis-deficient mosaic microtubules as faithful mimics of the GTP cap.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Centriolar cap proteins CP110 and CPAP control slow elongation of microtubule plus ends.The Journal of cell biology · 2025Article
- Structural switching of tubulin in the microtubule lattice.Biochemical Society transactions · 2025Review
- EB3-informed dynamics of the microtubule stabilizing cap during stalled growth.Biophysical journal · 2025Article
- Phase separation of microtubule-binding proteins - implications for neuronal function and disease.Journal of cell science · 2024Review
- Regulation of cytoskeleton dynamics and its interplay with force in plant cells.Biophysics reviews · 2024Review
- β3 accelerates microtubule plus end maturation through a divergent lateral interface.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
We used electron tomography to examine microtubules (MTs) growing from pure tubulin in vitro as well as two classes of MTs growing in cells from six species. The tips of all these growing MTs display bent protofilaments (PFs) that curve away from the MT axis, in contrast with previously reported MTs growing in vitro whose tips are either blunt or sheetlike. Neither high pressure nor freezing is responsible for the PF curvatures we see. The curvatures of PFs on growing and shortening MTs are similar; all are most curved at their tips, suggesting that guanosine triphosphate-tubulin in solution is bent and must straighten to be incorporated into the MT wall. Variations in curvature suggest that PFs are flexible in their plane of bending but rigid to bending out of that plane. Modeling by Brownian dynamics suggests that PF straightening for MT growth can be achieved by thermal motions, providing a simple mechanism with which to understand tubulin polymerization.
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