Catastrophic Depolymerization of Microtubules Driven by Subunit Shape Change

Microtubules are key component of cells and understanding their behavior is key to cellular biophysics. While microtubules possess high mechanical strength (sufficient for driving, e.g., mitosis), they possess a distinctive dynamic instability between growth and catastrophically-fast depolymerization. GTP-tubulin (a tubulin dimer bound to GTP) self-assembles, but dephosphorylation of GTP- to GDP-tubulin within the tubule results in destabilization. The molecular origins of this instability have remained unclear despite their importance in cellular processes.

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