TY - JOUR
T1 - Length and appearance of projections on neuronal microtubules in vitro after negative staining
T2 - evidence against a crosslinking function for MAPs
AU - Langford, George M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The technical assistance of Lascelles Lyn-Cook is greatly appreciated. The ideas generated from the collateral studies of LaVentrice Taylor and David Habel in my laboratory, are appreciated. Part of these studies was done at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass. 02543. This research was supported by funds from the North Carolina Board of Science and Industry, The University of North Carolina Biomedical Research Support Grant, and the National Institutes of Health Grant GM-28107.
PY - 1983/10
Y1 - 1983/10
N2 - The length and appearance of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) on microtubules reconstituted in vitro have been investigated by the negative-staining technique. We found that uranyl acetate (UA) causes the normally extended MAPs on microtubules to coil up into globular projections 7-10 nm in length. This perturbation occurred if the microtubules reacted with UA before they became adsorbed to the grid surface. If the microtubules were adsorbed to the grid surface before staining, the MAPs remained as extended, filamentous molecules, 35-40 nm in length. Glutaraldehyde also caused MAPs to coil into globular structures. In the altered, globular configuration, MAPs served to crosslink pairs of microtubules. In the normal filamentous configuration, MAPs were never seen to crosslink pairs of microtubules. Therefore, we concluded that MAPs do not function as crosslinking proteins between microtubules.
AB - The length and appearance of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) on microtubules reconstituted in vitro have been investigated by the negative-staining technique. We found that uranyl acetate (UA) causes the normally extended MAPs on microtubules to coil up into globular projections 7-10 nm in length. This perturbation occurred if the microtubules reacted with UA before they became adsorbed to the grid surface. If the microtubules were adsorbed to the grid surface before staining, the MAPs remained as extended, filamentous molecules, 35-40 nm in length. Glutaraldehyde also caused MAPs to coil into globular structures. In the altered, globular configuration, MAPs served to crosslink pairs of microtubules. In the normal filamentous configuration, MAPs were never seen to crosslink pairs of microtubules. Therefore, we concluded that MAPs do not function as crosslinking proteins between microtubules.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0022-5320(83)90111-9
DO - 10.1016/S0022-5320(83)90111-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 6198529
AN - SCOPUS:0021017593
SN - 0022-5320
VL - 85
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Journal of Ultrasructure Research
JF - Journal of Ultrasructure Research
IS - 1
ER -