Catastrophe And Rescue In Tubulin Antibody Research
Tubulin antibodies are widely used in cytoskeleton research, as well as in apoptosis, signal transduction, cellular marker and cancer studies. A small family of GTPases, the tubulins are known to be involved in the formation of microtubules via GTP-binding. In 2008, research with alpha and beta tubulin antibodies revealed that GTP remnants may play a role in the rescue of microtubules following catastrophic events. We at Novus Biologicals offer an extensive antibody catalog of tubulin reagents, allowing researchers to further investigate the tubulins’ roles in these critical cellular functions.
The tubulin family comprises five subgroups, the most widely studied of which are alpha and beta tubulin. When activated, the alpha and beta tubulin dimers bind to GTP. In this state, they are then incorporated onto the microtubule plus ends. Contact between the dimers along the microtubule protofilament leads to hydrolysis of beta tubulin-bound GTP to GDP. Depending on whether it is bound to GTP or GDP affects the stability of the beta tubulin dimer, which is highly stable in its GTP-bound form but unstable when bound to GDP.
Microtubules are in a flux of dynamic instability, alternating phases of shrinkage and growth being divided by catastrophe and rescue events. The importance of the GTP-tubulin cap to microtubule stability had been demonstrated previously in vitro, and in 2008 Dimitrov et al. used a recombinant GTP-tubulin antibody in vivo to demonstrate the presence of GTP-tubulin at the growing end of microtubules.
In subsequent studies, GTP-tubulin remnants were unexpectedly detected in older microtubule areas, suggesting incomplete GTP hydrolysis. This suggests a possible role in the rescue of microtubules following catastrophic events, with further research in this area necessary. Novus’ antibody catalogue is now helping scientists probe deeper into this area and further investigate the important role Tubulins may play in microtubule stability.
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Tags: antibody, tubulin antibody
