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Microtubule and tubulin metrics [1]. Microtubules are polymers of tubulin that form part of the cytoskeleton and provide structure and shape to eukaryotic cells. Microtubules can be as long as 50 micrometres, as wide as 23 to 27 nm [2] and have an inner diameter between 11 and 15 nm. [3]
Tubulin in molecular biology can refer either to the tubulin protein superfamily of globular proteins, or one of the member proteins of that superfamily. α- and β-tubulins polymerize into microtubules, a major component of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton. [1] It was discovered and named by Hideo Mōri in 1968. [2]
In cell biology, microtubule nucleation is the event that initiates de novo formation of microtubules (MTs). These filaments of the cytoskeleton typically form through polymerization of α- and β-tubulin dimers, the basic building blocks of the microtubule, which initially interact to nucleate a seed from which the filament elongates.
Microtubules are hollow cylinders about 23 nm in diameter (lumen diameter of approximately 15 nm), most commonly comprising 13 protofilaments that, in turn, are polymers of alpha and beta tubulin. They have a very dynamic behavior, binding GTP for polymerization.
Like microtubules, neurotubules are greatly dynamic and their length can be adjusted by polymerization and depolymerization of tubulin. [4] Despite having similar mechanical properties, neurotubules are distinct from microtubules found in other cell types with regards to their function and intracellular arrangement.
These include both stabilizing and destabilizing microtubules, guiding microtubules towards specific cellular locations, cross-linking microtubules and mediating the interactions of microtubules with other proteins in the cell. Within the cell, MAPs bind directly to the tubulin dimers of microtubules.
Microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) associate with microtubules at the midzone and the spindle poles to regulate their dynamics. γ-tubulin is a specialized tubulin variant that assembles into a ring complex called γ-TuRC which nucleates polymerization of α/β tubulin heterodimers into microtubules.
γ-tubulin is a protein located at the centrosome that nucleates the microtubules by interacting with the tubulin monomer subunit in the microtubule at the minus end. [1] Organization of the microtubules at the MTOC, or centrosome in this case, is determined by the polarity of the microtubules defined by y-tubulin. [1]
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