Nature: how spiral modular microtubules are controlled and formed

Microtubules are filamentous structures in cells Microtubules are needed in many important processes, including cell division and intracellular transport A team led by scientists at the University of Heidelberg recently discovered how spiral modular microtubules are formed and how they are controlled The researchers observed these phenomena using the state-of-the-art cryo-EM Nature "To assemble microtubules from a single component, cells need to use a structural template that mimics a layer of microtubule helix, which can be used as a starting point to form new microtubules," explained Stefan Pfeffer, PhD, senior author of the study and center for molecular biology (zmbh), University of Heidelberg In human cells, gamma tubulin complex (γ - Turc) is a structural template In order to understand more exactly how it affects the formation of microtubules, scientists have determined the structure of γ - Turc at the molecular level using a low-temperature electron microscope This study details how γ - Turc is organized in an orderly manner and how its approximately 30 different subunits are assembled It is also revealed how to adjust the formation of γ - Turc microtubules rapidly by simply changing the ring diameter "The activation of γ - Turc is essential for the efficient and reliable separation of genetic material during cell division "Because the number of microtubules in cancer cells has changed, leading to tumor invasiveness, these findings are also of great significance for cancer research," added professor Elmar Schiebel, group leader of the zmbh research group, who was the study's co-author with Dr Pfeffer Next, scientists plan to find drugs to prevent the microtubule nucleation of γ - Turc Their goal is to create a new model to inhibit cell division, which scientists believe can be used for cancer treatment reference material: