Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1974 Jan;60(1):153-67.
doi: 10.1083/jcb.60.1.153.

Microtubule surface lattice and subunit structure and observations on reassembly

Microtubule surface lattice and subunit structure and observations on reassembly

H P Erickson. J Cell Biol. 1974 Jan.

Abstract

Neuronal microtubules have been reassembled from brain tissue homogenates and purified. In reassembly from purified preparations, one of the first structures formed was a flat sheet, consisting of up to 13 longitudinal filaments, which was identified as an incomplete microtubule wall. Electron micrographs of these flat sheets and intact microtubules were analyzed by optical diffraction, and the surface lattice on which the subunits are arranged was determined to be a 13 filament, 3-start helix. A similar, and probably identical, lattice was found for outer-doublet microtubules. Finally, a 2-D image of the structure and arrangement of the microtubule subunits was obtained by processing selected images with a computer filtering and averaging system. The 40 x 50 A morphological subunit, which has previously been seen only as a globular particle and identified as the 55,000-dalton tubulin monomer, is seen in this higher resolution reconstructed image to be elongated, and split symmetrically by a longitudinal cleft into two lobes.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. J Cell Sci. 1966 Sep;1(3):351-62 - PubMed
    1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1973 Mar;70(3):765-8 - PubMed
    1. J Mol Biol. 1967 Apr 28;25(2):167-200 - PubMed
    1. J Cell Biol. 1967 Aug;34(2):697-701 - PubMed
    1. J Mol Biol. 1967 Dec 14;30(2):323-7 - PubMed

Substances