Tubulin

Tubulin (tubul- + -in) in molecular biology can refer either to the tubulin protein superfamily of globular proteins, or one of the member proteins of that superfamily. α- and β-tubulins polymerize into microtubules, a major component of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton.Microtubules function in many essential cellular processes, including mitosis. Tubulin-binding drugs kill cancerous cells by inhibiting microtubule dynamics, which are required for DNA segregation and therefore cell division.

Tubulin was long thought to be specific to eukaryotes. More recently, however, several prokaryotic proteins have been shown to be related to tubulin.

Characterization

Tubulin is characterized by the evolutionarily conserved Tubulin/FtsZ family, GTPase protein domain.

This GTPase protein domain is found in all eukaryotic tubulin chains, as well as the bacterial protein TubZ, the archaeal protein CetZ, and the FtsZ protein family widespread in Bacteria and Archaea.

Function

Microtubules

α- and β-tubulin polymerize into dynamic microtubules. In eukaryotes, microtubules are one of the major components of the cytoskeleton, and function in many processes, including structural support, intracellular transport, and DNA segregation.