Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29872007›Full record

ArticleActa crystallographica. Section D, Structural biology2018

Microtubule architecture in vitro and in cells revealed by cryo-electron tomography.

Joseph Atherton, Melissa Stouffer, Fiona Francis, Carolyn A Moores

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Acta crystallographica. Section D, Structural biology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
58citing papers in PubMed
6.0field-weighted citation impact, top 3% 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

58 citing papers in PubMed, 101 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Tubulin flux at spastin-induced nanodamage sites regulates microtubule rescue frequency and EB1 lifetimes.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
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  7. A tubulin-MAPKKK pathway engages tubulin isotype interaction for neuroprotection.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
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  9. Microtubule dynamics are defined by conformations and stability of clustered protofilaments.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
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  17. Handling Difficult Cryo-ET Samples: A Study with Primary Neurons from Drosophila melanogaster.Microscopy and microanalysis : the official journal of Microscopy Society of America, Microbeam Analysis Society, Microscopical Society of Canada · 2023
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Joseph AthertonInstitute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck College, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, England.
Melissa StoufferINSERM UMR-S 839, 17 Rue du Fer à Moulin, 75005 Paris, France.
Fiona FrancisINSERM UMR-S 839, 17 Rue du Fer à Moulin, 75005 Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0001-8542-7537
Carolyn A MooresInstitute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck College, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, England.ORCID 0000-0001-5686-6290
Inserm · FRInstitute of Structural and Molecular Biology · GB

Funding

Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueLaboratoire d'Excellence Biological PsychiatryMedical Research Council MR/J000973/1Medical Research Council MR/R000352/1Seventh Framework Programme Health-F2-602531-2013
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The microtubule cytoskeleton is involved in many vital cellular processes. Microtubules act as tracks for molecular motors, and their polymerization and depolymerization can be harnessed to generate force. The structures of microtubules provide key information about the mechanisms by which their cellular roles are accomplished and the physiological context in which these roles are performed. Cryo-electron microscopy allows the visualization of in vitro-polymerized microtubules and has provided important insights into their overall morphology and the influence of a range of factors on their structure and dynamics. Cryo-electron tomography can be used to determine the unique three-dimensional structure of individual microtubules and their ends. Here, a previous cryo-electron tomography study of in vitro-polymerized GMPCPP-stabilized microtubules is revisited, the findings are compared with new tomograms of dynamic in vitro and cellular microtubules, and the information that can be extracted from such data is highlighted. The analysis shows the surprising structural heterogeneity of in vitro-polymerized microtubules. Lattice defects can be observed both in vitro and in cells. The shared ultrastructural properties in these different populations emphasize the relevance of three-dimensional structures of in vitro microtubules for understanding microtubule cellular functions.

Indexed as

AnimalsCattleCryoelectron MicroscopyElectron Microscope TomographyMicrotubulesMolecular ConformationMolecular Dynamics SimulationMolecular StructurePolymerizationcryo-electron tomographylattice defectsmicrotubulesneuronsthree-dimensional reconstruction

Identifiers

PMID29872007
PMCPMC6096491
OpenAlexW2790617822

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.