{"id":2691,"date":"2023-07-11T09:28:35","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T14:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/pdbbootcamp\/?page_id=2691"},"modified":"2023-07-11T09:55:24","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T14:55:24","slug":"microtubule-structure","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/pdbbootcamp\/microtubules-welcome\/microtubule-structure\/","title":{"rendered":"Microtubule Structure"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>Structure<\/h4>\n<p>In eukaryotes, microtubules are long, hollow cylinders made up of polymerized \u03b1- and \u03b2-tubulin dimers.[12] The inner space of the hollow microtubule cylinders is referred to as the lumen. The \u03b1 and \u03b2-tubulin subunits are ~50% identical at the amino acid level, and both have a molecular weight of approximately 50 kDa.[13][14]<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2694 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-dev.vanderbilt.edu\/t2-my-dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2855\/2023\/07\/Structure_440px-Tubulin_dimer_1JFF-188x300.png\" alt=\"Structure_440px-Tubulin_dimer_1JFF\" width=\"188\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn-dev.vanderbilt.edu\/t2-my-dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2855\/2023\/07\/Structure_440px-Tubulin_dimer_1JFF-188x300.png 188w, https:\/\/cdn-dev.vanderbilt.edu\/t2-my-dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2855\/2023\/07\/Structure_440px-Tubulin_dimer_1JFF.png 440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 188px) 100vw, 188px\" \/>These \u03b1\/\u03b2-tubulin dimers polymerize end-to-end into linear protofilaments that associate laterally to form a single microtubule, which can then be extended by the addition of more \u03b1\/\u03b2-tubulin dimers. Typically, microtubules are formed by the parallel association of thirteen protofilaments, although microtubules composed of fewer or more protofilaments have been observed in various species [15] as well as in vitro.[16]<\/p>\n<p>Microtubules have a distinct polarity that is critical for their biological function. Tubulin polymerizes end to end, with the \u03b2-subunits of one tubulin dimer contacting the \u03b1-subunits of the next dimer. Therefore, in a protofilament, one end will have the \u03b1-subunits exposed while the other end will have the \u03b2-subunits exposed. These ends are designated the (\u2212) and (+) ends, respectively. The protofilaments bundle parallel to one another with the same polarity, so, in a microtubule, there is one end, the (+) end, with only \u03b2-subunits exposed, while the other end, the (\u2212) end, has only \u03b1-subunits exposed. While microtubule elongation can occur at both the (+) and (\u2212) ends, it is significantly more rapid at the (+) end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Structure In eukaryotes, microtubules are long, hollow cylinders made up of polymerized \u03b1- and \u03b2-tubulin dimers.[12] The inner space of the hollow microtubule cylinders is referred to as the lumen. The \u03b1 and \u03b2-tubulin subunits are ~50% identical at the amino acid level, and both have a molecular weight of approximately 50 kDa.[13][14] These \u03b1\/\u03b2-tubulin&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7141,"featured_media":0,"parent":2712,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2691","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/pdbbootcamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/pdbbootcamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/pdbbootcamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/pdbbootcamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/pdbbootcamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2691"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/pdbbootcamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2696,"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/pdbbootcamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2691\/revisions\/2696"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/pdbbootcamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/pdbbootcamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/pdbbootcamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}