Disease relevance of Tubulin

• One a- and 2 beta-tubulin isotypes (isotypes 1 and 2) from the parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus were artificially expressed in E. coli and purified to obtain tubulin that was capable of polymerizing into microtubules [1].

High impact information on Tubulin

• Functional analysis of a conserved beta-tubulin isotype (tub-1) mutation near GTP-binding domain II, which is linked to BZ resistance, was carried out in C. elegans by heterologous expression of: (1) parasite BZ-sensitive alleles; (2) BZ-resistant alleles; and (3) in vitro mutagenised beta-tubulin gene constructs [2].
• Our results support the notion that tubulin structure may contribute to the functional specialization of microtubules [3].
• Mebendazole bound to the individual tubulin isotypes with a stoichiometry of 1:1 [1].
• This result is in contrast to the tubulin genes of African trypanosomes where trans-splicing precedes polyadenylation (1) [4].
• Tubulin from albendazole resistant and susceptible C. elegans was isolated and run on polyacrylamide gels [5].

References