XB-ART-10848
Nat Cell Biol
2000 Jun 01;26:352-7. doi: 10.1038/35014045.
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Immunostructural evidence for the template mechanism of microtubule nucleation.
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Two opposing models have been proposed to explain how the gamma-tubulin ring complex (gammaTuRC) induces microtubule nucleation. In the 'protofilament' model, the gammaTuRC induces nucleation as a partially or completely straightened protofilament that is incorporated longitudinally into the wall of the nascent microtubule, whereas the 'template' model proposes that the gammaTuRC acts as a helical template that constitutes the base of the newly-formed polymer. Here we appraise these two models, using high-resolution structural and immunolocalization methods. We show that components of the gammaTuRC localize to a narrow zone at the extreme minus end of the microtubule and that these ends terminate in a pointed cap. Together, these results strongly favour the template model of microtubule nucleation.
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Species referenced: Xenopus laevis
References :
Erickson,
Gamma-tubulin nucleation: template or protofilament?
2000, Pubmed