Microtubule Protein Preparations Research Articles

On the interaction of ribosomal protein RPL22e with microtubules.

Microtubule (MT) protein preparations often contain components of the translation machinery, including ribosome proteins. To understand the biological meaning of it we studied the interaction of ribosomal protein RPL22e with the MT. We found that bacteria expressed purified RPL22e-GFP-6His did co-sediment with brain tubulin MTs with 1.3 µM dissociation coefficient. Such a KD is comparable to some specific MT-associated proteins. Distinct in vitro interaction of RPL22e-GFP with MTs was also observed by TIRF microscopy. In real-time assay, RPL22e-GFP molecules stayed bound to MTs for several seconds, and 15% of them demonstrated random-walk along MTs with diffusion coefficient 0.03 µ2 /s. Deletion of basic areas of RPL22e did not have an impact on KD , and deletion of acidic tail slightly increased association with MTs. Interestingly, the deletion of acidic tail increased diffusion coefficient as well. The interaction of RPL22e with MTs is hardly noticeable in vivo in cultured cells, probably since a significant part of the protein is incorporated into the ribosomes. The mobility of ribosomal protein on the MTs probably prevents its interfering with MT-dependent transport and could ameliorate its transport to the nucleus.

Association of brain gamma-tubulins with alpha beta-tubulin dimers.

gamma-Tubulin is necessary for nucleation and polar orientation of microtubules in vivo. The molecular mechanism of microtubule nucleation by gamma-tubulin and the regulation of this process are not fully understood. Here we show that there are two gamma-tubulin forms in the brain that are present in complexes of various sizes. Large complexes tend to dissociate in the presence of a high salt concentration. Both gamma-tubulins co-polymerized with tubulin dimers, and multiple gamma-tubulin bands were identified in microtubule protein preparations under conditions of non-denaturing electrophoresis. Immunoprecipitation experiments with monoclonal antibodies against gamma-tubulin and alpha-tubulin revealed interactions of both gamma-tubulin forms with tubulin dimers, irrespective of the size of complexes. We suggest that, besides small and large gamma-tubulin complexes, other molecular gamma-tubulin form(s) exist in brain extracts. Two-dimensional electrophoresis revealed multiple charge variants of gamma-tubulin in both brain extracts and microtubule protein preparations. Post-translational modification(s) of gamma-tubulins might therefore have an important role in the regulation of microtubule nucleation in neuronal cells.

Protein complexes containing gamma-tubulin are present in mammalian brain microtubule protein preparations.

The presence of gamma-tubulin in microtubule preparations, obtained by disassembly/ assembly cycles at 0degreesC/37degreesC from the brain of several mammals, is demonstrated by immunoblotting with specific antibodies directed against three distinct regions of the protein. In contrast gamma-tubulin was absent from pure tubulin obtained by chromatography on phosphocellulose, but was retained on the column with the other microtubule-associated proteins. A large part of the gamma-tubulin was present in cold stable material remaining after microtubule disassembly at OdegreesC and was partially solubilized using high salt, thus preventing its purification by the usual assembly/disassembly procedure used for alpha/beta-tubulin heterodimers. Brain gamma-tubulin was purified by affinity chromatography with gamma-tubulin antibodies raised against its carboxyl terminal region. Purified gamma-tubulin consisted of at least two polypeptides present in equal quantities and exhibiting a pI of 6.5 and 6.6, respectively. It was associated with the alpha/beta-tubulin heterodimer and with at least five other polypeptides of 75, 105, 130, 195, and 250 kDa. With the exception of the 250 kDa polypeptide, all of these proteins seem to be present in gamma-tubulin complexes isolated from Xenopus eggs. But, in contrast with Xenopus egg complexes, brain complexes exhibited a considerable heterogeneity of their apparent masses and composition in sucrose gradient centrifugation, in agreement with the absence of an homogeneous structure in electron microscopy. Despite this heterogeneity, gamma-tubulin complexes bind quantitatively to microtubule extremities. The possibility to further use mammalian brain gamma-tubulin and some of its associated proteins in biochemical and pharmacological experiments is of interest since brain microtubule protein preparations have been extensively used for studying both microtubule dynamics and the activity of microtubule poisons.

Species-specific differences in taxol transport and cytotoxicity against human and rodent tumor cells: Evidence for an alternate transport system?

The efficacy of taxol against a wide range of sensitive and refractory solid tumors has prompted extensive investigation into the factors that influence its cytotoxicity. Our preliminary observations indicated that taxol had a superior antitumor effect against human cells (Daudi, K562, 2008, 2008/C13 ∗, 2780 and C70) compared with its effect against rodent cells (WS, WR, NIH3T3, and CHO). Although verapamil, an inhibitor of P-glycoprotein function, markedly increased the efficacy of taxol against the rodent cells (WS, WR, and CHO), the expression of P-glycoprotein was found only at low levels in the WR cells. In addition, levels of the multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP), as assessed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis, were found to be higher in the human than in the rodent cells, although MRP mRNA was not detected by northern blotting. Transport studies indicated that the reduced sensitivity of the rodent cells to taxol was due to decreased intracellular taxol levels and reduced intracellular binding. However, no correlation was found between the intracellular binding of taxol and the intracellular levels of α- and β-tubulin, or the intracellular concentration of polymerized tubulin. These studies were extended further by assessing the binding of taxol to semi-purified microtubule proteins from WS, CHO and 2008/C13 ∗ cells in vitro. The microtubule protein preparations from WS, CHO and 2008/C13 ∗ cells, which have a 50-fold difference in their sensitivity to taxol, were found to bind equal amounts of radiolabeled taxol, and this binding was inhibited (80%) in the presence of unlabeled taxol. These results lead us to propose the presence in the rodent cells of an alternative taxol transport system that is distinct from the P-glycoprotein and MRP systems.

Assembly and bundling of marginal band microtubule protein: role of tau.

Microtubule protein extracted from dogfish erythrocyte cytoskeletons by disassembly of marginal bands at low temperature formed linear microtubule (MT) bundles upon reassembly at 22 degrees C. The bundles, which were readily visible by video-enhanced phase contrast or DIC microscopy, increased in length and thickness with time. At steady state after 1 hour, most bundles were 6-11 microns in length and 2-5 MTs in thickness. No inter-MT cross-bridges were visible by negative staining. The bundles exhibited mechanical stability in flow as well as flexibility, in this respect resembling native marginal bands. As analyzed by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting, our standard extraction conditions yielded MT protein preparations and bundles containing tau protein but not high molecular weight MAPs such as MAP-2 or syncolin. In addition, late fractions of MT protein obtained by gel filtration were devoid of high molecular weight proteins but still produced MT bundles. The marginal band tau was salt-extractable and heat-stable, bound antibodies to mammalian brain tau, and formed aggregates upon desalting. Antibodies to tau blocked MT assembly, but both assembly and bundling occurred in the presence of antibodies to actin or syncolin. The MTs were "unbundled" by subtilisin or by high salt (0.5-1 M KCl or NaCl), consistent with tau involvement in bundling. High salt extracts retained bundling activity, and salt-induced unbundling was reversible with desalting. However, reversibility was observed only after salt-induced MT disassembly had occurred. Reconstitution experiments showed that addition of marginal band tau to preassembled MTs did not produce bundles, whereas tau presence during MT reassembly did yield bundles. Thus, in this system, tau appears to play a role in both MT assembly and bundling, serving in the latter function as a coassembly factor.

Kinetics of dissociation of the tubulin-colchicine complex. Complete reaction scheme and comparison to thermodynamic measurements.

The slow dissociation reaction of the tubulin-colchicine complex has been characterized in purified calf brain tubulin and microtubule protein preparations, using [3H]colchicine and fluorometric measurements. It fits to a single exponential phase, within the accuracy of these measurements. The dissociation is a kinetically unfavorable reaction, with activation energy values of 114 +/- 10 and 94 +/- 10 kJ mol-1 (purified tubulin and microtubule protein, respectively). The kinetic scheme previously proposed for the tubulin-colchicine association (Lambeir, A., and Engelborghs, Y. (1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256, 3279-3282) is: T + C K1 in equilibrium TC k2 in equilibrium k-2 (TC)' where step 1 is a fast reversible binding and step 2 is a slow conformational change, whose backward rate constant (k-2) was neglected for the association study. This kinetic scheme has now been completed to include the measurements of the rate-limiting dissociation step (k-2), and of the purified calf brain tubulin preparation. The overall binding standard free energy change, calculated from the kinetic measurements, is -42.0 +/- 0.1 kJ mol-1 (fast phase of binding in 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer, 0.1 mM GTP, pH 7.0, at 37 degrees C). The binding is exothermic and the calculated enthalpy change is -26 +/- 13 kJ mol-1, which coincides with the recently determined calorimetric enthalpy value, -21 +/- 2 kJ mol-1 (Menendez, M., Laynez, J., Medrano, F. J., and Andreu, J. M. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 16367-16371), suggesting that the kinetic scheme and measurements are essentially correct.

Effect of polyanions and polycations on detyrosination of tubulin and microtubules at steady state

Microtubule protein preparations purified from rat brain were used to study the effect of polycations and polyanions on the release of the COOH-terminal tyrosine of the α-chain of tubulin catalyzed by tubulin carboxypeptidase. (1) Most of the polycations and polyanions tested, independently of the ionogenic group, inhibited the reaction in a concentration-dependent fashion. Under steady-state conditions, detyrosination of the microtubule pool was inhibited to the same degree as occurred with the non-assembled tubulin pool, except in the case of chondroitin sulphate. This compound inhibited detyrosination of the non-assembled tubulin pool, but not that of microtubules. (2) Heparin, the most potent inhibitor tested, produced the dissociation of the carboxypeptidase from microtubules. Many, but not all, of the other microtubule-associated polypeptides were also dissociated by heparin. (3) Polylysine counteracted the inhibitory and dissociating effects of heparin. (4) Heparin protected tubulin carboxypeptidase against inactivation. Our results and previous reports describing, in nervous tissue, the presence of proteoglycans, RNA and basic proteins that inhibit detyrosination, suggest that tubulin carboxypeptidase might be physiologically modulated by electrically charged macromolecules.

The characterization of phospholipids associated with microtubules, purified tubulin and microtubule associated proteins in vitro

1. 1. Significant levels of total phospholipid phosphate were detected in highly purified microtubule protein preparations. 2. 2. While the phospholipid profiles of total microtubule proteins and microtubule-associated proteins showed both similarities and differences to that of a whole brain homogenate, purified tubulin was associated only with phospholipids that were not detectable in the latter. 3. 3. Phosphatidyl ethanolamine, found exclusively in a fraction of microtubule associated proteins, stimulated microtubule assembly in vitro.

Nucleotide interconversions in microtubule protein preparations, a significant complication for accurate measurement of GTP hydrolysis in the presence of adenosine 5'-(beta, gamma-imidotriphosphate).

Pursuing the observation of Carlier and Pantaloni [Carlier, M.-F., & Pantaloni, D. (1982) Biochemistry 21, 1215-1224] that adenosine 5'-(beta, gamma-imidotriphosphate) (pNHppA) strongly inhibited tubulin-independent phosphatases in microtubule protein preparations, we observed with a number of commercial preparations of pNHppA that a major proportion of the terminal phosphate of [gamma-32P]GTP added to microtubule protein preparations was rapidly converted into ATP. Initially postulating degradation of pNHppA to AMP followed by stepwise conversion of AMP to ATP, we isolated two nucleoside monophosphate kinase activities from microtubule protein capable of generating ATP from AMP + GTP. The amounts of these enzymes in microtubule protein preparations, however, are probably too low to account for rapid ATP formation. Instead, ATP formation most likely is caused by nucleoside diphosphate kinase acting on ADP contaminating commercial pNHppA preparations. Such ADP contamination was demonstrated by high-performance liquid chromatography, with the amount of ATP formed with different pNHppA preparations proportional to the amount of ADP contamination. Repurification of commercial pNHppA until it was free of contaminating ADP also resulted in the elimination of ATP formation. The repurified pNHppA potently inhibited GTP hydrolysis in microtubule protein preparations. In addition, especially when supplemented with equimolar Mg2+, the repurified pNHppA strongly inhibited GTP hydrolysis and microtubule assembly in reaction mixtures containing purified tubulin and heat-treated microtubule-associated proteins (which contain negligible amounts of tubulin-independent phosphatase activity). We conclude that studies of microtubule-dependent GTP hydrolysis which make use of pNHppA must be interpreted with extreme caution.

Magnesium ion effects on microtubule nucleation in vitro

Much interest has currently been attached to the length distribution of microtubules polymerized in vitro and the related question of their possible ‘dynamic instability’. Fundamental to this question is the mechanism of microtubule nucleation, which controls the rates of assembly and disassembly of microtubule protein in vitro. These kinetics are affected by a number of factors, including both the guanine nucleotides, GTP and GDP, and magnesium ion. Mg 2+ exerts complex effects, as indicated by the existence of an optimal Mg 2+ concentration for the maximum assembly rate of microtubule protein, and we investigate these effects in this report. At [Mg 2+] > 0.5 mM, the characteristic lag-phase is substantially increased and the rate of assembly is greatly reduced without affecting the critical concentration significantly. We show that increasing [Mg 2+] has two effects on the assembly process: nucleation is less efficient and the intrinsic rate constant for the elongation reaction is reduced. Lowering [Mg 2+] (less than 0.5 mM) also inhibits nucleation. These effects of varying [Mg 2+] can be explained predominantly in terms of enhanced stability of the microtubule-associated protein-containing oligomeric species present in the microtubule protein preparation. [Mg 2+] is thus found to be a further important factor in microtubule nucleation, and hence, in determining length distributions in assembling microtubules.

Separation of assembly-competent tubulin from brain microtubule protein preparations using a fast-performance liquid chromatography procedure.

Fast-performance liquid chromatography was used to purify assembly-competent tubulin from porcine brain microtubule protein prepared by two cycles of assembly-disassembly. Microtubule protein (1-100 mg at 1.5-2.5 mg/ml) in buffer consisting of 0.1 M 2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid, 0.5 mM MgCl2, 1 mM EGTA, 0.3 M KCl, and 0.02 mM GTP (pH 6.6) was applied to the Mono Q column (anion exchanger). The microtubule-associated proteins, GTP and GDP, eluted in the void volume. The tubulin fraction eluted at 0.45-0.50 M KCl with 65-80% recovery. The tubulin fraction contained trace enzymatic activities when compared with the starting microtubule protein, i.e., less than 1 versus 60 mU/mg/min of nucleoside diphosphate kinase, 0.2 versus 7.0 nmol/mg/min of Mg-ATPase at pH 6.6, and 0.2 versus 88 mU/mg/min of adenylate kinase. Both the Mono Q-purified tubulin and the pelleted microtubules that were assembled in 0.5 mM [3H]GTP contained 0.77 mol of labeled nucleotide/tubulin dimer. The Mono Q-purified tubulin fraction was competent to assemble, i.e., the critical concentration was 0.1 mg/ml in the presence of 0.03 mM taxol and 1 mM GTP at 37 degrees C. The Mono Q-purified tubulin fraction showed trace high-molecular-weight components, which were removed on Mono S (cation exchanger) columns. Alternatively, microtubule protein in buffer was applied to the Mono S column. Tubulin, trace nontubulin proteins, and several enzymatic activities came off in the void volume. A combination of Mono Q-Mono S or Mono S-Mono Q chromatography resulted in highly purified protein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

On the use of heat stability as a criterion for the identification of microtubule associated proteins (MAPs)

Solubility at elevated temperature is a striking biochemical property exhibited by a restricted number of the known microtubule associated proteins. This property has been extremely useful in the identification of these proteins and in their purification as well. It is reported here that heat stability is a function of the composition of proteins present during exposure to elevated temperature. All non-tubulin proteins in bovine microtubule preparations were found to remain soluble when tubulin was removed prior to heating. Addition of purified tubulin or bovine serum albumin to the preparation restored the selective heat stability normally seen in microtubule protein preparations.

Water ordering during the cell cycle: nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the sea-urchin egg.

Nuclear magnetic resonance was used to measure spin-lattice water proton relaxation times (T1) during the first cell cycle in sea-urchin zygotes of packed Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Following insemination there was a 90% increase in the T1 value. The increase in T1 at fertilization could be accounted for by the accumulation of extracellular fluid between the egg surface and the fertilization envelope. The T1 value then remained without change during the first cell cycle, except at metaphase when there was a significant 13% decrease. The lowered T1 values measured at metaphase were not related to a change in the water content of the packed cells, which remained fairly constant throughout the cell cycle. High hydrostatic pressure, low temperature and colchicine (agents that depolymerize mitotic apparatus microtubules) did not affect the T1 values in fertilized eggs. Treatment in vitro of a microtubule protein preparation with low temperature and colchicine resulted in an increased T1, which accompanied the depolymerization of microtubule protein. Since depolymerization of the microtubules associated with the mitotic apparatus by high pressure, colchicine or low temperature does not alter the T1 of water protons in the cell, it is proposed that the increased state of ordered water molecules at metaphase is maintained by nonmicrotubular factor(s) of the metaphase egg.

Release of C-terminal tyrosine from tubulin and microtubules at steady state.

Microtubule protein preparations purified by cycles of assembly-disassembly contain the enzyme tubulinyltyrosine carboxypeptidase (TTCPase). Using these preparations, containing tubulinyl[14C]tyrosine, we studied the release of [14C]tyrosine from assembled and non-assembled tubulin under steady-state conditions. It was found that both states of aggregation were detyrosinated at similar rates by the action of the endogenous TTCPase. However, practically no release of [14C]tyrosine from the non-assembled tubulin pool was found when microtubules were previously eliminated from the incubation mixture. These results indicated that non-assembled tubulin requires to interact with microtubules to be detyrosinated. This interaction seems to occur through the incorporation of dimers into microtubules, since when the capability of tubulin to incorporate into microtubules was diminished by binding of colchicine a concomitant decrease in the rate of release of tyrosine was observed. When detyrosination was accelerated by increasing the concentration of TTCPase relative to the microtubule protein concentration, microtubules were found to be detyrosinated faster than was non-assembled tubulin. Using exogenous TTCPase in an incubation system in which the formation of microtubules was not allowed, tubulinyl[14C]tyrosine and tubulinyl[14C]tyrosine-colchicine complex were shown to have similar capabilities to act as substrates for this enzyme. Free colchicine was shown not to affect the activity of TTCPase.

High-affinity microtubule protein-higher organism DNA complexes. Many-fold enrichment in repetitive mouse DNA sequences comprised of satellite DNAs

We have examined aspects of the interaction of cycled microtubule protein preparations with 35S-labeled mouse DNA tracer in a competition system with unlabelled competitor E. coli or mouse DNA. The nitrocellulose filter binding assay was used to measure interaction by scintillation counting. DNA molecular weight affected the levels of filter retained 35S-labelled mouse tracer DNA. Filter retention levels increased if 35S-labelled mouse DNA tracer size was increased, and the filter binding level decreased if competitor DNA size was increased. There was a sizeable, reproducible difference in the 35S-labelled mouse DNA tracer binding level of about 1% when E. coli or mouse DNA competitors were compared. Mouse DNA more effectively competed with 35S-labelled mouse DNA for microtubule protein binding than did E. coli DNA, suggesting that a small class of higher-organism DNA sequences interacts very strongly with microtubule protein. From other studies we know this to be the MAP fraction (Marx, K.A. and Denial, T. (1984) in The Molecular Basis of Cancer (Rein, R., ed.), Alan R. Liss, New York, in the press; and Villasante, E., Corces, V.G., Manso-Martinez, R. and Avila, J. (1981) Nucleic Acids Res. 9, 895–908). We find that this difference in competitor DNA strength is qualitatively similar under high-stringency conditions (0.5 M NaCl, high competitor [DNA]) we developed for examining high-affinity complexes. Under high-stringency conditions we isolated 1.2% and 0.6% of 35S-labelled mouse DNA at 4200 and 350 bp respective sizes as nitrocellulose filter bound DNA-protein complexes. At both molecular weights these high-affinity DNA sequences, isolated from the filters, were shown to be significantly enriched in repetitive DNA sequences by S 1 nuclease solution reassociation kinetics. The kinetics are consistent with about a 4-fold mouse satellite DNA enrichment as well as enrichment in other repetitious DNA sequence classes. The high molecular weight filter-bound DNA samples were sedimented to equilibrium in CsCl buoyant density gradients and found to contain primarily mouse satellite DNA density sequences (1.691 g/cm 3) with some minor fractions at other density positions (1.670, 1.682, 1.705, 1.740, 1.760 g/cm 3) similar to those observed by our laboratory in previous investigations of micrococcal nuclease-resistant chromatin (Marx, K.A. (1977) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 78, 777–784). That the high-affinity microtubule-bound DNA was some 3–5-fold enriched in mouse satellite sequences was demonstrated by its characteristic BstNI restriction enzyme cleavage pattern

The microtubule-associated nucleoside diphosphate kinase.

Microtubule protein prepared by cycles of assembly-disassembly contains a nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDP kinase) activity. We have isolated the NDP kinase responsible for this activity from twice-polymerized bovine brain microtubule protein by a five-step chromatographic procedure. The molecular weight of this enzyme was 103,000 +/- 7,000 daltons as determined by sedimentation equilibrium experiments performed with a Beckman Airfuge. A doublet of subunit bands with molecular masses of about 18,000 daltons was detected by silver staining after gradient sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of this preparation. We conclude that the enzyme is a hexamer, although we cannot identify the mix of subunits. We were able to isolate only nanogram quantities of this enzyme, too little for extensive studies, so we isolated the enzyme directly from bovine brain without a preliminary microtubule protein isolation. The whole-brain NDP kinase was isolated by the same chromatographic steps as the enzyme from microtubule protein preparations. Both enzymes had a doublet of subunits at the same molecular weights and both were the same isozyme, chromatofocusing at a pH of 8.0. Both enzymes had similar kinetic properties and similar thermal inactivation profiles. These similar properties of the two enzymes suggest that they are identical. Both subunits of NDP kinase could be reversibly phosphorylated by ATP. Phosphorylation of the native enzyme created multiple, more acidic forms that retained activity. The isolation of this NDP kinase, which can copurify with microtubule protein through cycles of assembly-disassembly, will facilitate future studies on the role of this enzyme in the mechanism and regulation of microtubule assembly.

Inhibition of adenosine-5'-triphosphatase activity in microtubule protein preparation by PS-K.

A protein-bound polysaccharide, PS-K, exhibited an inhibitory action on the ATPase activity of microtubule proteins in a concentration-dependent manner. The extent of inhibition was greater with Mg2+ than with Ca2+. Heat treatment at 100°C and digestion by DNase 1, RNase A, several proteases, and a glycosidase mixture did not affect the inhibitory effect of PS-K.

Molecular flexibility in microtubule proteins: proton nuclear magnetic resonance characterization.

Bovine microtubule protein preparations have been examined by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy at 270 MHz. Sharp resonances have been identified as deriving from microtubule-associated proteins. These resonances persist after self-assembly of microtubule protein. Brief tryptic treatment of assembled microtubules, specifically cleaving the microtubule-associated protein HMW2 (Mr = 270 000), releases the pendant portion of HMW2 (Mr = 240 000), three-quarters of which is in a flexible conformation. Isolated tau protein and HMW2 protein both show substantial flexibility; on recombination with tubulin dimer, tau shows considerable decrease in flexibility whereas HMW2 is unaffected. The observations may have important implications for the interactions between microtubules and other cytoskeletal structures.

Conformational properties of microtubule protein: their relation to the self-assembly process in vitro.

AbstractNear‐ and far‐uv CD spectra of microtubule protein preparations have been examined to study the possible role of protein conformation in relation to the kinetics of the self‐assembly of these proteins into microtubules in vitro. Although tubulin can form conformations with high helical content under apolar solution conditions, this transformation is apparently not involved in self‐assembly. There is no major perturbation of tubulin near‐uv CD by reagents and solution conditions favoring assembly. Thus, in these preparations, tubulin, as dimer and as oligomer with MAPs, is effectively in the conformation in which it undergoes self‐assembly. This conclusion is consistent with a hybrid model of assembly of microtubule protein involving direct incorporation of oligomeric species as an alternative to the condensation polymerization of tubulin dimer as the exclusive assembly mechanism.

Characterization of microtubules isolated from dogfish ( Squalus acanthias and Scyliorhinus canicula) brain in the absence of glycerol

1. 1. Microtubules were isolated by two cycles of assembly-disassembly from dogfish brain in the absence of glycerol. 2. 2. The microtubule protein preparation consist mainly of tubulin as characterized by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, but tau and high molecular weight microtubule associated proteins (MAPs) were also identified, in addition to several other MAPs. 3. 3. The microtubules were cold-sensitive and had an assembly temperature optimum at 21–25°C. 4. 4. Ca 2+, at a concentration of 1 mM or higher, induced spirals of several protofilaments, sheets and “macrotubules”. 5. 5. In the presence of colchicine (0.1–1.0 mM) spirals as well as microtubules were seen. These structures were often found to be clustered.