Nanoscopic Structural Fluctuations of Disassembling Microtubules Revealed by Label-Free Super-Resolution Microscopy

0543280 - ÚFE 2022 RIV DE eng J - Journal Article
Vala, Milan - Bujak, Lukasz - Marín, Antonio García - Holanová, Kristýna - Henrichs, Verena - Braun, Marcus - Lánský, Zdeněk - Piliarik, Marek
Nanoscopic Structural Fluctuations of Disassembling Microtubules Revealed by Label-Free Super-Resolution Microscopy.
Small Methods. Roč. 5, č. 4 (2021), č. článku 2000985. ISSN 2366-9608. E-ISSN 2366-9608
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) ED2.1.00/19.0390
Institutional support: RVO:67985882 ; RVO:86652036
Keywords : super-resolution microscopy * microtubules * dynamic instability * iSCAT
OECD category: Optics (including laser optics and quantum optics); Physical chemistry (BTO-N)
Impact factor: 15.367, year: 2021
Method of publishing: Open access
https://doi.org/10.1002/smtd.202000985

Microtubules are cytoskeletal polymers of tubulin dimers assembled into protofilaments that constitute nanotubes undergoing periods of assembly and disassembly. Static electron micrographs suggest a structural transition of straight protofilaments into curved ones occurring at the tips of disassembling microtubules. However, these structural transitions have never been observed and the process of microtubule disassembly thus remains unclear. Here, label-free optical microscopy capable of selective imaging of the transient structural changes of protofilaments at the tip of a disassembling microtubule is introduced. Upon induced disassembly, the transition of ordered protofilaments into a disordered conformation is resolved at the tip of the microtubule. Imaging the unbinding of individual tubulin oligomers from the microtubule tip reveals transient pauses and relapses in the disassembly, concurrent with increased organization of protofilament segments at the microtubule tip. These findings show that microtubule disassembly is a discrete process and suggest a stochastic mechanism of switching from the disassembly to the assembly phas
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0320513