Mammalian end binding proteins control persistent microtubule growth

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2009-03-02Author
Komarova, Yulia A.
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De Groot, Christian O.
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Grigoriev, Ilya
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Gouveia, Susana Montenegro
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Munteanu, E. Laura
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Schober, Joseph M.
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Honnappa, Srinivas
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Buey, Ruben M.
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Hoogenraad, Casper C.
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Dogterom, Marileen
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Borisy, Gary G.
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Steinmetz, Michel O.
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Akhmanova, Anna
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https://hdl.handle.net/1912/2972As published
https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200807179DOI
10.1083/jcb.200807179Abstract
End binding proteins (EBs) are highly conserved core components of microtubule plus-end tracking protein networks. Here we investigated the roles of the three mammalian EBs in controlling microtubule dynamics and analyzed the domains involved. Protein depletion and rescue experiments showed that EB1 and EB3, but not EB2, promote persistent microtubule growth by suppressing catastrophes. Furthermore, we demonstrated in vitro and in cells that the EB plus-end tracking behavior depends on the calponin homology domain but does not require dimer formation. In contrast, dimerization is necessary for the EB anti-catastrophe activity in cells; this explains why the EB1 dimerization domain, which disrupts native EB dimers, exhibits a dominant-negative effect. When microtubule dynamics is reconstituted with purified tubulin, EBs promote rather than inhibit catastrophes, suggesting that in cells EBs prevent catastrophes by counteracting other microtubule regulators. This probably occurs through their action on microtubule ends, because catastrophe suppression does not require the EB domains needed for binding to known EB partners.
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© 2009 Komarova et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. The definitive version was published in Journal of Cell Biology 184 (2009): 691-706, doi:10.1083/jcb.200807179.
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Journal of Cell Biology 184 (2009): 691-706The following license files are associated with this item: