Microtubules are an essential component of the cytoskeleton that help maintain cellular structure and enable various cellular movements and transport processes. They are composed of alpha and beta tubulin subunits that polymerize to form protofilaments which assemble into microtubules. Microtubules are dynamic structures that undergo growth and shrinkage. Recent research has provided new insights into how microtubules and motor proteins self-organize to form larger cellular structures like spindles during cell division. Additionally, a protein called DRG1 has been found to promote microtubule polymerization and bundling, helping to regulate spindle assembly and dynamics.

1. Microtubules!
Whats New?
Intesar T. Aba-Conding

2. What bones are to bodies,
the cytoskeleton is to cells.
The cytoskeleton maintains cellular structure,
builds appendages like flagella and,
together with motor proteins,
powers cellular movement, transport, and division.
Microtubules are a critical component of the cytoskeleton,
vital for cell division and,
because of that,
an excellent target for chemotherapy drugs.

3. History of Microtubules
• Microtubules were first discovered
by De Roberties and Franchi
(1953)
• Term “Microtubules” was given by
Slautterback (1963)

4. Chemistry of Microtubules
• The chemistry of microtubules has
been studied in some detail with the
help of colchicines and its derivative
colcemide other chemicals like
vincristine, vinblastini and
podophyllotoxin, which inhabit
assembly of microtubules.
• These chemicals bind to the globular
subunit and prevent polymerization.

6. Comparison of Cytoskeleton

7. Structures and Functions of Microtubules
• Microtubules are filamentous intracellular structures that are
responsible for various kinds of movements in all eukaryotic cells.
• Microtubules are involved in nucleic and cell division, organization of
intracellular structure, and intracellular transport, as well as ciliary
and flagellar motility.
• Because the functions of microtubules are so critical to the existence
of eukaryotic cells (including our own), it is important that we
understand their composition, how they are assembled and
disassembled, and how their assembly/disassembly and functions are
regulated by cells.

8. • All eukaryotic cells produce the protein
tubulin, in the usual way.
• The usual way, of course, is by
transcription of genes coding for tubulin to
produce messenger RNA, followed by the
translation of mRNA by the ribosomes in
order to produce protein.
• Cells maintain at least two types of tubulin,
which we call alpha tubulin and beta
tubulin.
• However, it is doubtful that the two types
can found in cells as individual proteins.

9. Microtubule Structure
• Alpha and beta tubulin spontaneously bind one another to
form a functional subunit that we call a heterodimer.
• A heterodimer is a protein that consists of two different
gene products.
• The term is entirely descriptive - the prefix hetero-means
"different," the prefix di- means "two," and the suffix -
mer refers to a unit, in this case a single polypeptide.
• Obviously, cells do not continue to make tubulin (or any
other protein) until they run out of resources. Some
process must regulate the synthesis of tubulin. A common
regulatory mechanism is feedback inhibition.

10. Microtubule Structure
• The alpha-tubulin and beta-tubulin
molecules are 4-5 nm in diamater and 55
kDa, have almost identical shapes but only
share 40% amino acid sequence identity.
• A microtubule is a hollow cylinder of 13
protofilaments around a lumen with an
outer diameter (25 nm), inner diameter
(15 nm) and dimer width (8 nm).

11. Assembly of Microtubules
• When intracellular conditions favor assembly, tubulin heterodimers
assemble into linear protofilaments. Protofilaments in turn assemble
into microtubules. All such assembly is subject to regulation by the
cell.
• Microtubules form a framework for structures such as the spindle
apparatus that appears during cell division, or the whip like organelles
known as cilia and flagella. Cilia and flagella are the most well-studied
models for microtubule structure and assembly, and are often used
by textbooks to introduce microtubules.

12. Dynamic instability of microtubules
• Under steady state conditions a microtubule may appear
to be completely stable, however there is action taking
place constantly.
• Populations of microtubules usually consist of some that
are shrinking and some that are growing. A single
microtubule can oscillate between growth and shortening
phases.
• During growth, heterodimers are added on to the end of a
microtubule, and during shrinkage they come off as intact
subunits. The same heterodimer can come off and go back
on.
• Since even apparently stable microtubular structures have
an intrinsic instability, they are considered to be in
a dynamic equilibrium, or steady state.

13. A research was recently published in the journal eLife
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160128122350.htm
• Microtubules can spontaneously self-organize, transforming from many
singular components into one large cellular structure capable of
performing specific tasks.
• A researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and
Applied Sciences (SEAS) have observed how microtubules and motor
proteins assemble into macroscopic networks.
• Their observation provides a better understanding of cytoskeletal self-
organization in general, which may in turn lead to better drug design and
new materials that can mimic cellular behaviors.
• Spindles are cellular structures that play an important role in cell division,
separating chromosomes and pulling the duplicated DNA from the mother
cell into the daughter cell. They are made up of microtubules and many
other proteins, including the motor protein dynein.

14. A research was recently published in the journal eLife
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160128122350.htm
• "What we are really looking for is a grand unified theory of spindle
assembly," said Peter Foster, a graduate student at SEAS and the paper's
first author. "We know how motor proteins interact with microtubules but
how do you go from individual microtubules and motor proteins to large
networked structures?"
• To gain insight into how spindles assemble, Foster and his team, under the
leadership of Dan Needleman, associate professor of applied physics and of
molecular and cellular biology, built a simple experiment.
• They extracted cytoplasm from frog eggs, which contains dynein and all of
the components needed to make spindles, added fluorescent protein and
the chemotherapy drug Taxol to create and stabilize microtubules, and
loaded the mixture into "the world's simplest microfluidic chamber."

15. Two type of motor proteins
1) Kinesins
its responsible for moving vesicles and
organelles from the cell body toward the
synaptic terminals.
This motor protein, which was named,
Kinesin, it constructed from two identical
heavy chains and two light chains.
2) Cytoplasmic Dyneins
its responsible for the movements of cilia
and flagella.
Cytoplasmic dyneins is huge protein
composed of two identical heavy chain and
a variety of intermediate and light chains.

16. A research was recently published in the journal eLife
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160128122350.htm
• "Very quickly, we saw that these microtubules organize into networks that
spontaneously contract," Foster said. "The question is why?"
• The answer lay not in the microtubules but in the behavior of the motor
protein.
• Microtubules have plus and minus ends and researchers have observed
dynein moving from the plus end to the minus.
• As a result, the motor protein draws the minus ends of microtubules
together, creating star-like clusters called asters.
• The dynein drives these small clusters together, fusing them to create
larger and larger networks. As the motor protein continues to jam the
microtubules together, the network contracts, until it can't get any smaller.

17. Another Recent Findings
Developmentally Regulated GTP binding protein 1 (DRG1) controls
microtubule dynamics
Anna Katharina Schellhaus, Daniel Moreno-Andrés, Mayank Chugh, Hideki Yokoyama, Athina Moschopoulou,
Suman De, Fulvia Bono, Katharina Hipp, Erik Schäffer & Wolfram Antonin
Published online: August 30, 2017
www.nature.com/scientificreports

18. • Several types of microtubules are found in the mitotic
spindle.
• The microtubules of the kinetochore, a protein complex
assembled on centromeric chromatin, connect the
centrosome with the kinetochore.
• Usually 20–30 kinetochore microtubules are bundled
into stable k-fibers, which mediate chromosomal
movement.
• The non-kinetochore microtubules are part of the
spindle body, without being attached to the
kinetochore. They are important for separating the
poles and mitotic spindle stability.
• Lastly, astral microtubules radiate from the centrosomes
toward the cell cortex and position the
• Several classes of microtubule-associated proteins are
known. These include microtubule polymerases and de-
polymerases, nucleation factors, severing enzymes,
microtubule bundling/crosslinking proteins, motor
proteins that are essential to establish the bipolar array
e.g. by sliding microtubules, microtubule capping/ end-
binding/tracking factors and many more.

19. • Here, they identify Developmentally regulated GTP-binding protein 1
(DRG1) as a microtubule polymerase that also bundles and stabilizes
microtubules.
• Developmentally regulated GTP-binding proteins (DRGs) are a deeply
conserved group of proteins belonging to the subfamily of Obg
GTPases.
• DRGs are conserved from archaebacterial having one DRG to
eukaryotes from yeast to human, containing DRG1 and DRG2.
• Plants even have three DRGs. Beside the canonical G-domain they do
not share similarities with other known GTPases and their function is
still largely unclear.

20. • The function of DRG1 has been long debated. Considering its high
evolutionary conservation, it was suggested that DRG1 has an important
function in a fundamental cell biological process.
• They identify here that DRG1 is involved in spindle assembly. DRG1 binds
microtubules and can diffuse on the microtubule lattice in vitro. DRG1
promotes microtubule polymerization and bundling and stabilizes them.
• To perform these latter activities, DRG1 does not require GTP hydrolysis,
but does require each of its domains as only the full-length protein is
functional in these assays.
• Consistent with these observations DRG1 is also involved in spindle
dynamics in HeLa cells: microtubules regrow faster after a cold shock
induced disassembly if DRG1 is present; early mitotic progression is
extended if DRG1 is down regulated and a high number of asymmetric
monoasters forms upon monastrol treatment in cells lacking DRG1.

21. • The polymerization, bundling and stabilization
activities of DRG1 could be completely
independent functions or connected to each
other: the bundling of microtubules could also
stabilize them
• The polymerization activity could increase the
amount of microtubules in a population that is in
the growth phase and thereby stabilize them; the
bundling could increase polymerization by
increasing the microtubule density close to DRG1.
• In this respect, it is surprising that the GTPases α-
and β-tubulin are directly regulated by another
GTPase, DRG1, although not using its GTP
hydrolysis activity in this context.

22. • DRG1 has been suggested to possess a function connected to ribosomes and
translation as it co-fractionates with ribosomes. Its function in this context is still
not fully understood.
• The likely independent functions of DRG1 concerning microtubules and
translation could be spatially or temporally regulated e.g. DRG1 might have
different functions during different cell cycle stages or one of the functions could
be induced upon stress situations as previously suggested.
• Likewise, its function could be regulated by its binding partners. Analysis shows
that DRG1 is a microtubule binding, bundling, polymerization and stabilization
factor. It does not need its GTPase activity to perform these functions.
• Truncated versions bind microtubules but have highly reduced or none of the
other activities. Down regulation of DRG1 in HeLa cells indicated that the protein
is involved in mitotic spindle assembly.
• Deregulation of DRG1 was suggested to be involved in cancer formation and it is
conceivable that the function of DRG1 in mitotic spindle assembly is connected to
this. It is also possible that the microtubule function of DRG1 is not limited to
mitosis.
• How DRG1 potentially affects interphase microtubule function is an interesting
question awaiting detailed investigation.

23. To summarize:
1. DRG1 directly interacts with microtubules
2. DRG1 diffuses on microtubules
3. DRG1 binds microtubules via multiple regions
4. DRG1 binds to microtubules lacking the negatively charged C-terminus of
tubulin
5. DRG1 bundles microtubules
6. DRG1 promotes microtubule polymerization
7. DRG1 stabilizes microtubules
8. The GTPase activity of DRG1 is not necessary for its microtubule functions
9. Full-length DRG1 is necessary to bundle, polymerize and stabilize
microtubules
10. DRG1 impacts spindle dynamics in cells

24. Figure 1. DRG1 and DFRP1 bind microtubules.
(a) 4 μM taxol-stabilized microtubules (MTs) were incubated
with Xenopus cytostatic factor arrested (CSF) extract.
Microtubules were co-sedimented together with
Mtbinding proteins and eluted by 500 mM NaCl in CSF-XB
buffer. The pellet and the elution were analysed by
western blotting.
(b) Recombinant Xenopus laevis DRG1 and DRFP1 as well as
human DFRP2 were incubated with 12 μM taxol-stabilized
microtubules to test if the observed binding is direct.
RanQ69L served as a negative control (neg. ctrl.). S:
supernatant, P: pellet.
(c) Coomassie stainings of recombinant proteins in binding
experiments as in were quantified using ImageJ. The
columns represent the averages of the protein fractions
found in the pellet from at least three different
experiments with the individual data points indicated.
(d) Recombinant Xenopus laevis DRG1 was incubated with
different concentrations of taxol-stabilized microtubules.
(e) Coomassie staining of recombinant DRG1 from (d) was
quantified using ImageJ and blotted in dependence to the
microtubule concentrations. The binding curve was fitted
to the data points calculating a KD of 0.47 (+/−0.05) μM.

25. Figure 2. DRG1 interacts with the microtubule lattice in
distinct binding modes.
(a) Kymographs showing two different binding modes
(diffusion and immobile) of eGFP-DRG1 over four
different concentrations (0.08 nM, 0.4 nM, 4 nM,
40 nM). On top of each kymograph, the respective
image of the rhodamine-labelled microtubule is
shown. Every kymograph represents a
microtubule on its horizontal axis observed over
time (vertical).
(b) The proportions of the different DRG1 binding
populations are shown at the aforementioned
concentrations.
(c) Residence times of diffusive and immobile DRG1
molecules on microtubule lattice are 12.0 ± 0.8 s
(mean ± S.E.M., 0.08 nM), 12.4 ± 0.9 s (0.4 nM),
11.1 ± 0.9 s (4 nM), 5.4 ± 0.6 s (40 nM) for the
immobile fraction and 2.2 ± 0.2 s (4 nM) and 2.6 ±
0.5 s (40 nM) for the diffusive population.
Color scheme: diffusion (cyan), immobile (green).
Exemplary events are pointed out by arrows.

26. Figure 3. Different DRG1 domains interact with
microtubules.
(a) Scheme of DRG1 indicating the different domains.
(b) Full-length and truncated versions of Xenopus
laevis DRG1 were incubated and co-sedimented
with taxol-stabilized MTs as in Fig. 1b.
(c) Full-length DRG1 and its truncated versions lacking
both the HTH and TGS domains were incubated
and co-sedimented with taxol-stabilized MTs.
(d) Coomassie stainings of recombinant proteins in
binding experiments as in (b) and (c) were
quantified using ImageJ. The column represents
the average of the protein fractions found in the
pellet from three different experiments with the
individual data points indicated
(e) Structure prediction of Xenopus DRG1 modeled
with Swiss-Model46. Blue color represents the
positively charged surface and red the negative
charges (±5 kT/e). Lower structure shows a
cartoon representing the different domains using
the color code from (a).
(f) Taxol-stabilized MTs were digested by the
protease subtilisin and employed in the co-
sedimentation assay with full-length DRG1.

27. • Figure 4. DRG1 bundles and polymerizes microtubules
in vitro
(a,b) 0.3 μM taxol-stabilized, Cy-3 labelled MTs were
incubated with 1 μM DRG1, BSA or buffer for 10 min at
RT.
Samples were analyzed by confocal microscopy (a) or
electron microscopy (b).
(c) 5 μM tubulin (mixed in a 1:4 Cy3 labeled:unlabeled
ratio) were incubated with 1 mM GTP and 1 μM DRG1,
BSA or buffer for 30 min at 37 °C, fixed with BRB80
buffer containing 0.25% glutaraldehyde, 10% glycerol
and 0.1% Triton X-100, spun down on coverslips and
postfixed with cold methanol. Samples were analyzed by
confocal microscopy. MT only polymerized if DRG1 was
present.
(d) Light-scattering experiments were carried out by
mixing 2.5 μM tubulin, 1 mM GTP and 1 μM DRG1 in a
96-well plate which was followed by immediately
measuring absorbance at 340 nm every 38 seconds for
2:10 hours.

28. Figure 5. DRG1 stabilizes microtubules in the cold.
(a) 12 μM tubulin was polymerized in the absence or
presence of 5 μM DRG1 for 1 h at 37 °C and placed on
ice for 30 min. MTs were then pelleted by
centrifugation, while free tubulin stays in the
supernatant. Pellet and supernatant were analyzed by
SDS-PAGE. The quantification shows the tubulin fraction
found in the pellet. Columns represent the average of
five independent experiments with the individual data
points indicated.
(b) Western blotting shows that DRG1 was knockeddown in
HeLa cells stably expressing histone H2B-mCherry and
eGFP-tubulin by siRNA 72 h post-transfection.
(c) siRNA treated HeLa cells were placed 72 hrs after
transfection on ice for 1 hour to induce MT disassembly.
Warm medium was then added to the cells which were
fixed with 4% PFA at indicated time points. Maximum
intensity projections of Z-stacks from representative
prometaphase cells at the given time points are shown.
(d) The spindle size in voxels was quantified in 20 random
prometaphase cells (from 2 independent experiments)
per time point and siRNA (mean and SD are plotted).
***P < 0.001; **P < 0.01; *P < 0.01. Insert shows the
spindle size at 0 min enlarged.

29. Figure 6. Microtubule binding, bundling, polymerization and
stabilization activity of DRG1 does not require GTP hydrolysis.
(a) MT co-sedimentation with 12 μM taxol-stabilized microtubules
and DRG1 WT, DRG1 S78N and DRG1 P73V. The quantification
shows the fraction of the proteins in the pellet.
Columns represent the average of three independent experiments,
individual data points are indicated.
(a) MT-polymerization assay was done as in Fig. 4 using 1 μM DRG1
WT, S78N and P73V.
(b) MT bundling assay was done as in Fig. 4 using 1 μM DRG1 WT,
S78N and P73V.
(c) DRG1 S78N and DRG1 P73V were employed in the microtubule
stabilization assay as in Fig. 5.
The quantification shows the tubulin fraction found in the pellet.
Columns represent the average of four independent experiments,
individual data points are indicated.

30. Figure 7. DRG1 regulates mitotic progression
and spindle assembly in cells.
(a) HeLa cells stably expressing histone
H2B-mCherry and tubulin-eGFP were
transfected with siRNA oligonucleotides
against DRG1 or a control. The cells were
imaged every 3 min for 48 h starting at
24 h post-transfection.
(b) A cumulative histogram of the timing
from prophase to anaphase onset based
on chromatin morphology (based on
H2BmCherry) and
(c) of the timing from aster formation to
anaphase spindle (based on eGFP-
tubulin) are shown. Mean and SD from 3
independent experiments containing
more than 150 cell trajectories per
siRNA and experiment are plotted.

31. Figure 8. DRG1 plays a role in spindle dynamics
in vivo.
(a) HeLa cells were seeded on glass coverslides
and transfected with DRG1 or control siRNA
oligonucleotides. 72 h post-transfection cells
were incubated with 70 μM monastrol with or
without 2 nM taxol for 3 h33, fixed and stained
with antibodies against α-tubulin (green) and
anti-human centromere (magenta). DAPI in
blue.
(b,c) Quantitation of cells with asymmetric
asters. Z-Stacks from five to eight random
positions per condition were acquired and
quantified (4 independent experiments for
monastrol treatment (b) and two independent
experiments (represented by the two dots/
squares) for monastrol treatment with rescue
by taxol (c)). Between 15 and 98 cells with
monopolar spindles were evaluated per siRNA
knockdown per experiment. Mean and SD are
plotted. ***P < 0.001; **P < 0.01; *P < 0.01.

32. Another Interesting Findings
• Cells need microtubules for intracellular transport and to avoid being
crushed, ACETYLATION is a must because this makes microtubules
STRONG!
Acetylation Keeps Microtubules Strong
Stella M. Hurtley
Science 21 Apr 2017:
Vol. 356, Issue 6335, pp. 280-283
DOI: 10.1126/science.356.6335.280-k
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6335/280.11/tab-pdf

33. THANK YOU …