Quantifying the monomer-dimer equilibrium of tubulin with mass photometry

The αβ-tubulin heterodimer is the fundamental building block of microtubules, making it central to several cellular processes. Despite the apparent simplicity of heterodimerisation, the associated energetics and kinetics remain disputed, largely due to experimental challenges associated with quantif...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Fineberg, Adam, Surrey, Thomas, Kukura, Philipp
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/45847
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/45847
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2020.10.013
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Binding affinity
Mass photometry
Single molecule
Tubulin
Descripción
Sumario:The αβ-tubulin heterodimer is the fundamental building block of microtubules, making it central to several cellular processes. Despite the apparent simplicity of heterodimerisation, the associated energetics and kinetics remain disputed, largely due to experimental challenges associated with quantifying affinities in the <µM range. We use mass photometry to observe tubulin monomers and heterodimers in solution simultaneously, thereby quantifying the αβ-tubulin dissociation constant (8.48±1.22 nM) and its tightening in the presence of GTP (3.69±0.65 nM), at a dissociation rate >10-2 s-1. Our results demonstrate the capabilities of mass photometry for quantifying protein-protein interactions and clarify the energetics and kinetics of tubulin heterodimerisation.