Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40618192›Full record

ArticleBiophysical journal2026

On the curvature and relaxation of microtubule plus-end tips.

Tomasz Skóra, Jiangbo Wu, Daniel Beckett, Weizhi Xue, Gregory A Voth, Tamara C Bidone

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Biophysical journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Tomasz SkóraScientific Computing and Imaging Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Jiangbo WuDepartment of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Frank Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
Daniel BeckettDepartment of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Frank Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
Weizhi XueDepartment of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Frank Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
Gregory A VothDepartment of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Frank Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
Tamara C BidoneScientific Computing and Imaging Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; Department of Molecular Pharmaceutics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; Department of Biochemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. Electronic address: tamarabidone@sci.utah.edu.

Funding

Computational Investigations of the Mechanisms Behind Microtubule CatastropheF32GM140646 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · PI BECKETT, DANIEL · 2021 to 2023
$169k
NIGMS NIH HHS F32 GM140646
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Microtubules are essential cytoskeletal components with a broad range of functions in which the structure and dynamics of their plus-end tips play critical roles. Existing mechanistic models explain the tips curving dynamics in different ways: the allosteric model suggests that GTP hydrolysis induces conformational changes in tubulin subunits that destabilize the lattice, leading to protofilament curving and depolymerization, while the lattice model posits that GTP hydrolysis directly destabilizes the microtubule lattice. However, the effect of GTP hydrolysis on the curving dynamics of microtubule tips remains incompletely understood. In this study, we employed a multiscale modeling approach, combining all-atom molecular dynamics simulations with Brownian dynamics simulations, to investigate the relaxation of microtubule plus-end tips into curved configurations. Our results show that both GDP- and GTP-bound tips exhibit an outward bending of protofilaments into curved, ram's horn-like structures, characterized by a linear relationship between curvature and distance from the plus-end tip. These observations align with experimental cryo-ET images of microtubule plus-end tips in different nucleotide states. Collectively, our findings suggest that the outward bending of protofilaments at the plus-end tip is an intrinsic feature of microtubules, independent of the nucleotide state.

Indexed as

MicrotubulesMolecular Dynamics SimulationGuanosine DiphosphateGuanosine TriphosphateHydrolysisTubulinGuanosine DiphosphateGuanosine TriphosphateTubulin

Identifiers

PMID40618192
PMCPMC12335896

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.