Numerous phosphates of microtubule-associated protein 2 in living rat brain

Microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP 2) purified from microwave-irradiated rat head contained about 46 esterified phosphates (mole/mol), which were not bound covalently to lipids and did not assemble with microtubules. After some phosphates were released by calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase, the phosphate content of MAP-2 decreased to 16 mol of phosphate and the protein assembled in vitro. MAP-2 purified after microtubule assembly cycles and also the cytosolic heat-stable fraction without assembly cycles had 10 mol of phosphate, and both assembled with microtubules. The MAP-2 with 46 phosphates and that with 10 had different pI in isoelectric focusing, but the components, MAP-2a and -2b, were always near each other. In high-pressure liquid chromatography, MAP-2 containing 46 mol of phosphate appeared after that 10 mol of phosphate. Phosphoserine, phosphothreonine, and phosphotyrosine were recovered from tryptic digestion of MAP-2 with 46 mol of phosphate. These findings suggest that two kinds of MAP-2, one with 46 phosphates and not bound to tubulin and the other with 10-16 phosphates and bound to tubulin, are present in the living rat brain.     

Purification and characterization of a 190-kD microtubule-associated protein from bovine adrenal cortex

A heat-stable microtubule-associated protein (MAP) with molecular weight of 190,000, termed 190-kD MAP, was purified from bovine adrenal cortex. This MAP showed the same level of ability to promote tubulin polymerization as did MAP2 and tau from mammalian brains. Relatively high amounts of 190-kD MAP could bind to microtubules reconstituted in the presence of taxol. At maximum 1 mol of 190-kD MAP could bind to 2.3 mol of tubulin. 190-kD MAP was phosphorylated by a cAMP-dependent protein kinase prepared from sea urchin spermatozoa and by protein kinase(s) present in the microtubule protein fraction prepared from mammalian brains. The maximal numbers of incorporated phosphate were approximately 0.2 and approximately 0.4 mol per mole of 190-kD MAP, respectively. These values were lower than that of MAP2, which could be heavily phosphorylated by the endogenous protein kinase(s) up to 5 mol per mole of MAP2 under the same assay condition. 190-kD MAP had no effects on the low-shear viscosity of actin and did not induce an increase in turbidity of the actin solution. It was also revealed that 190-kD MAP does not cosediment with actin filaments. These data clearly show that, distinct from MAP2 and tau, this MAP does not interact with actin. Electron microscopic observation of the rotary-shadowed images of 190-kD MAP showed the molecular shape to be a long, thin, flexible rod with a contour length of approximately 100 nm. Quick-freeze, deep-etch replicas of the microtubules reconstituted from 190-kD MAP and brain tubulin revealed many cross-bridges connecting microtubules with each other.     

MAP2 competes with MAP1 for binding to microtubules

A question whether MAP1 and MAP2 (the major microtubule associated proteins from mammalian brain) bind to common or distinct sites on the microtubule surface was studied. Microtubules were assembled from tubulin and MAP1 and then centrifuged through a layer of MAP2 solution under conditions where no repolymerization of tubulin with MAP2 could occur. During centrifugation, MAP2 displaced most of MAP1 on the microtubules. This implies that MAP1 is reversibly bound to microtubules and that MAP2 binding interferes with MAP1 binding. The latter means that binding sites for MAP1 and MAP2 are identical or overlap.     

Association of microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP 2) with microtubules and intermediate filaments in cultured brain cells

The classification of MAP 2 as a microtubule-associated protein is based on its affinity for microtubules in vitro and its filamentous distribution in cultured cells. We sought to determine whether MAP 2 is also able to bind in situ to organelles other than microtubules. For this purpose, primary cultures of rat brain cells were stained for immunofluorescence microscopy with a rabbit anti-MAP 2 antibody prepared in our laboratory, as well as with antibodies to vimentin, an intermediate filament protein, and to tubulin, the major subunit of microtubules. MAP 2 was present on cytoplasmic fibers in neurons and in a subpopulation of the flat cells present in the cultures. Our observations were concentrated on the flat cells because of their suitability for high-resolution immunofluorescence microscopy. Double antibody staining revealed co-localization of MAP 2 with both tubulin and vimentin in the flat cells. Pretreatment of the cultures with vinblastine resulted in the redistribution of MAP 2 into perinuclear cables that contained vimentin. Tubulin paracrystals were not stained by anti-MAP 2. In cells extracted with digitonin, the normal fibrillar distribution of MAP 2 was resistant to several treatments (PIPES buffer plus 10 mM Ca++, phosphate buffer at pH 7 or 9) that induced depolymerization of microtubules, but not intermediate filaments. Staining of the primary brain cells was not observed with preimmune serum nor with immune serum adsorbed prior to use with pure MAP 2. We detected MAP 2 on intermediate filaments not only with anti-MAP 2 serum, but also with affinity purified anti-MAP 2 and with a monoclonal anti-MAP 2 prepared in another laboratory. We conclude from these experiments that material recognized by anti-MAP 2 antibodies associates with both microtubules and intermediate filaments. We propose that one function of MAP 2 is to cross-link the two types of cellular filaments.     

The endoplasmic reticulum retention signal of the E3/19K protein of adenovirus-2 is microtubule binding.

The signal for retention in the endoplasmic reticulum of the E3/19K protein of adenovirus type 2 is located within the carboxyl-terminal cytoplasmic extension. A synthetic peptide corresponding to this sequence showed affinity for beta-tubulin, could promote tubulin polymerization in vitro, and bound to taxol-polymerized microtubules. When compared with the microtubule binding sequences from two microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs; MAP2 and tau), we found similarities suggesting that the cytoplasmic tail might bind to tubulin/microtubules in a MAPs-like fashion. A synthetic peptide corresponding to the cytoplasmic tail of an E3/19K deletion mutant not retained in the endoplasmic reticulum was also tested. It had the same net charge but did not promote tubulin polymerization in vitro nor did it show measurable affinity for tubulin or microtubules. This indicates that binding to microtubules is important for retention of the E3/19K protein in the endoplasmic reticulum.     

Phosphorylation of tubulin and microtubule-associated proteins by the purified insulin receptor kinase

The purified insulin receptor kinase catalyzed the phosphorylation of native tubulin and microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs; MAP2, tau) on tyrosine residues. Insulin (10(-7) M) stimulated the reaction by 4-10-fold by increasing Vmax with little change in Km. alpha-Tubulin was preferred as a substrate for the kinase compared to beta-tubulin. MAP2 was found to be the best substrate among the cytoskeletal proteins tested; in the presence of insulin, the Vmax for MAP2 was 6.3 nmol/min/mg, its Km was 5.1 microM, and 1.7 mol of phosphate were incorporated per mol of MAP2. Under the same conditions used for this phosphorylation of tubulin and MAPs, actin and tropomyosin were very poorly phosphorylated. These data, coupled with previous evidence for potential functional relationships between insulin action and microtubules, raise the possibility that microtubule proteins may be cellular targets for the insulin receptor kinase.     

Extensive cAMP-dependent and cAMP-independent phosphorylation of microtubule-associated protein 2

Microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP 2) is the major substrate for phosphorylation in purified preparations of brain microtubules. In earlier work, we showed that phosphorylation is catalyzed by a type II cAMP-dependent protein kinase tightly associated with MAP 2 itself. In the present study, we have examined the extent of MAP 2 phosphorylation by its associated protein kinase. Using an inorganic phosphate assay, we found that MAP 2 contained from 8 to 13 mol of phosphate/mol of protein as isolated. The catalytic subunit of the MAP 2-associated kinase catalyzed the incorporation of additional phosphate to a final level of 20-22 mol/mol of MAP 2. Potato acid phosphatase was used to remove phosphate from MAP 2. Rephosphorylation of acid phosphatase-treated MAP 2 resulted in maximal incorporation of 13 mol of phosphate/mol of MAP 2. The rates and extent of [32P] phosphate incorporation into as isolated and dephosphorylated MAP 2 were found to be identical, and phosphate was incorporated into identical peptides in the two preparations. These results were interpreted to indicate that MAP 2 contains as many as 13 cAMP-dependent phosphorylation sites, and approximately eight phosphates of as yet undetermined origin.     

Stoichiometry of estramustine phosphate binding to MAP2 measured by the disassembly of chick brain MAP2:tubulin microtubules

The concentration of estramustine phosphate required to inhibit the assembly or to induce the disassembly of chick brain MAP2:tubulin microtubules is markedly dependent upon the microtubule protein concentration. Analysis of this relationship shows that estramustine phosphate and tubulin compete for common MAP2 sites, that MAP2 can bind 5-6 moles.mole-1 estramustine phosphate, and that the Kd of these sites is congruent to 20 microM estramustine phosphate. It is proposed that two molecules of estramustine phosphate interact with each of the three tubulin-binding sites of MAP2 and inhibit the MAP2:tubulin interaction by neutralising two highly conserved basic residues.     

Mitogen-activated-protein-kinase-catalyzed phosphorylation of microtubule-associated proteins, microtubule-associated protein 2 and microtubule-associated protein 4, induces an alteration in their function.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), a serine/threonine-specific protein kinase which is generally activated by stimulation with various growth factors and phorbol esters, utilizes microtubule-associated protein (MAP) 2 as a good substrate in vitro. We have found that MAPK-catalyzed phosphorylation of MAP2 resulted in a significant loss in its ability to induce tubulin polymerization. The chymotryptic fragments, containing a microtubule-binding domain of MAP2, were phosphorylated by MAPK and the ability of the fragments to induce tubulin polymerization was also greatly decreased by the phosphorylation, suggesting that phosphorylation of the microtubule-binding domain is important for functional alteration of MAP2. In addition to MAP2, a 190-kDa heat-stable MAP (MAP4) found in various tissues and cells, was a good substrate for MAPK in vitro. Phosphorylation of MAP4 inactivated tubulin polymerization. We examined the effect of phosphorylation of MAP2 and MAP4 on the dynamics of microtubules nucleated by purified centrosomes in vitro. The data showed that MAPK-catalyzed phosphorylation of MAP2 and MAP4 reduced their ability to increase the apparent elongation rate and the number of microtubules nucleated by the centrosome. Thus, MAPK is capable of phosphorylating MAPs and negatively regulating their microtubule-stabilizing function.     

Deactylase inhibitors disrupt cellular complexes containing protein phosphatases and deacetylases

Affinity isolation of protein serine/threonine phosphatases on the immobilized phosphatase inhibitor microcystin-LR identified histone deacetylase 1(HDAC1), HDAC6, and HDAC10 as novel components of cellular phosphatase complexes. Other HDACs, specifically HDAC2, -3, -4, and -5, were excluded from such complexes. In vitro biochemical studies showed that recombinant HDAC6, but not HDAC4, bound directly to the protein phosphatase (PP)1 catalytic subunit. No association was observed between HDAC6 and PP2A, another major protein phosphatase. PP1 binding was mapped to the second catalytic domain and adjacent C-terminal sequences in HDAC6, and treatment of cells with trichostatin A (TSA) disrupted endogenous HDAC6.PP1 complexes. Consistent with the inhibition of tubulin deactylase activity of HDAC6, TSA enhanced cellular tubulin acetylation, and acetylated tubulin was present in the PP1 complexes from TSA-treated cells. Trapoxin B, a weak HDAC6 inhibitor, and calyculin A, a cell-permeable phosphatase inhibitor, had no effect on the stability of the HDAC6.PP1 complexes or on tubulin acetylation. Mutations that inactivated HDAC6 prevented its incorporation into cellular PP1 complexes and suggested that when bound together both enzymes were active. Interestingly, TSA disrupted all the cellular HDAC.phosphatase complexes analyzed. This study provided new insight into the mechanism by which HDAC inhibitors elicited coordinate changes in cellular protein phosphorylation and acetylation and suggested that changes in these protein modifications at multiple subcellular sites may contribute to the known ability of HDAC inhibitors to suppress cell growth and transformation.     

Effect of estramustine phosphate on the assembly of trypsin-treated microtubules and microtubules reconstituted from purified tubulin with either tau, MAP2, or the tubulin-binding fragment of MAP2

Estramustine phosphate, an estradiol nitrogen-mustard derivative is a microtubule-associated protein (MAP)-binding microtubule inhibitor, used in the therapy of prostatic carcinoma. It was found to inhibit assembly and to induce disassembly of microtubules reconstituted from phosphocellulose-purified tubulin with either tau, microtubule-associated protein 2, or chymotrypsin-digested microtubule-associated protein 2. Estramustine phosphate also inhibited assembly of trypsin-treated microtubules, completely depleted of high-molecular-weight microtubule-associated proteins, but with their microtubule-binding fragment present. In all cases estramustine phosphate induced disassembly to about 50%, at a concentration of approximately 100 microM, at similar protein concentrations. However, estramustine phosphate did not affect dimethyl sulfoxide-induced assembly of phosphocellulose-purified tubulin. Estramustine phosphate is a reversible inhibitor, as the nonionic detergent Triton X-100 was found to counteract the inhibition in a concentration-dependent manner. The reversibility was nondisruptive, as Triton X-100 itself did not affect microtubule assembly, microtubule protein composition, or morphology. This new reversible MAPs-dependent inhibitor estramustine phosphate affects the tubulin assembly, induced by tau, as well as by the small tubulin-binding part of MAP2 with the same concentration dependency. This indicates that tau and the tubulin-binding part of MAP2, in addition to their assembly promoting functions also have binding site(s) for estramustine phosphate in common.     

Taxol binds to polymerized tubulin in vitro

Taxol, a natural plant product that enhances the rate and extent of microtubule assembly in vitro and stabilizes microtubules in vitro and in cells, was labeled with tritium by catalytic exchange with (3)H(2)O. The binding of [(3)H]taxol to microtubule protein was studied by a sedimentation assay. Microtubules assembled in the presence of [(3)H]taxol bind drug specifically with an apparent binding constant, K(app), of 8.7 x 19(-7) M and binding saturates with a calculated maximal binding ration, B(max), of 0.6 mol taxol bound/mol tubulin dimer. [(3)H]Taxol also binds and assembles phosphocellulose-purified tubulin, and we suggest that taxol stabilizes interactions between dimers that lead to microtubule polymer formation. With both microtubule protein and phosphocellulose- purified tubulin, binding saturation occurs at approximate stoichiometry with the tubulin dimmer concentration. Under assembly conditions, podophyllotoxin and vinblastine inhibit the binding of [(3)H]taxol to microtubule protein in a complex manner which we believe reflects a competition between these drugs, not for a single binding site, but for different forms (dimer and polymer) of tubulin. Steady-state microtubules assembled with GTP or with 5’-guanylyl-α,β-methylene diphosphonate (GPCPP), a GTP analog reported to inhibit microtubule treadmilling (I.V. Sandoval and K. Weber. 1980. J. Biol. Chem. 255:6966-6974), bind [(3)H]taxol with approximately the same stoichiometry as microtubules assembled in the presence of [(3)H]taxol. Such data indicate that a taxol binding site exists on the intact microtubule. Unlabeled taxol competitively displaces [(3)H]taxol from microtubules, while podophyllotoxin, vinblastine, and CaCl(2) do not. Podophyllotoxin and vinblastine, however, reduce the mass of sedimented taxol-stabilized microtubules, but the specific activity of bound [(3)H]taxol in the pellet remains constant. We conclude that taxol binds specifically and reversibly to a polymerized form of tubulin with a stoichiometry approaching unity.     

The mechanism of action of vinblastine. Binding of [acetyl-3H]vinblastine to embryonic chick brain tubulin and tubulin from sea urchin sperm tail outer doublet microtubules.

Tritium-labeled viblastine, specific activity 107 Ci/mol, was prepared by acetylation of desacetylvinblastine with [3H]acetic anhydride, and has been employed in a study of vinblastine binding to tubulin. There are two high affinity vinblastine-binding sites per mole of embryonic chick brain tubulin (KA = 3-5 X 10(5) l./mol). Binding to these sites was rapid, and relatively independent of temperature between 37 and 0degreeC. Vincristin sulfate and desacetylvinblastine sulfate, two other active vinca alkaloid derivatives, competitively inhibited the binding of vinblastine. The inhibition constant for vincristine was 1.7 X 10(-5) M; and for desacetylvinblastine, 2 X 10(-5) M. The vinblastine binding activity of tubulin decayed upon aging, but this property was not studied in detail. Vinblastine did not depolymerize stable sea urchin sperm tail outer doublet microtubules, nor did it bind to these microtubules. However, tubulin solubilized from the B subfiber of the outer doublet microtubules possessed the two high affinity binding sites (KA = 1-3 X 105 l./mol). These data suggest that vinblastine destroys microtubules in cells primarily by inhibition of microtubule polymerization, and does not directly destroy preformed microtubules.     

The periodic association of MAP2 with brain microtubules in vitro

Several high molecular weight polypeptides have been shown to quantitatively copurify with brain tubulin during cycles of in vitro assembly-disassembly. These microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) have been shown to influence the rate and extent of microtubule assembly in vitro. We report here that a heat-stable fraction highly enriched for one of the MAPs, MAP2 (mol wt approximately 300,000 daltons), devoid of MAP1 (mol wt approximately 350,000 daltons), has been purified from calf neurotubules. This MAP2 fraction stoichiometrically promotes microtubule assembly, lowering the critical concentration for tubulin assembly to 0.05 mg/ml. Microtubules saturated with MAP2 contain MAP2 and tubulin in a molar ratio of approximately 1 mole of MAP2 to 9 moles of tubulin dimer. Electron microscopy of thin sections of the MAP2-saturated microtubules fixed in the presence of tannic acid demonstrates a striking axial periodicity of 32 +/- 8 nm.     

Binding of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) to rat brain mitochondria: a comparative study of the binding of MAP2, its microtubule-binding and projection domains, and tau proteins

Two major brain microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs), MAP2 and tau, were found to be able to bind to purified rat brain mitochondria. The apparent dissociation constants of the binding of thermostable 32P-labeled MAP2 and tau are 0.9 +/- 0.04 x 10(-7) and 3.8 +/- 0.7 x 10(-7) M, respectively. 32P-labeled MAP2 and tau bound to the mitochondria can be displaced by phosphorylated, nonradioactive MAP2. The binding parameters of MAP2 prepared without heat treatment and those of the thermostable MAP2 were of the same order of magnitude. Microtubule-binding and projection domains of MAP2 were obtained by chymotryptic digestion of rat brain microtubules (Vallee, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 77:3206-3210, 1980). Displacement studies with these two domains show that MAP2 bound to mitochondria can be displaced by the microtubule-binding domain, whereas the projection domain does not displace MAP2. The two domains of MAP2 bind to the mitochondria with similar affinity constants; however, the Bmax for the projection domain was 10 times and 35 times lower than the Bmax of the binding of the intact MAP2 and the microtubule-binding domain, respectively. Chymotryptic digestion of MAP2 bound to the mitochondria yielded peptide fragments with molecular masses similar to those obtained by the digestion of MAP2 bound to the microtubules. The fragments corresponding to the projection domain were released into the extramitochondrial supernatant, whereas the fragments originating from the microtubule-binding domain remained bound to the mitochondria. These results suggest that MAP2 binds to mitochondria preferentially via its microtubule-binding domain.     

Perturbation of microtubule polymerization by quercetin through tubulin binding: a novel mechanism of its antiproliferative activity

The dietary flavonoid quercetin has a broad range of biological activities, including potent antitumor activity against several types of tumors. Recently, it has been shown that quercetin inhibits cancer cells proliferation by depleting cellular microtubules and perturbing cellular microtubule functions. However, the direct interactions of quercetin with tubulin and microtubules have not been examined so far. Here, we found that quercetin inhibited polymerization of microtubules and depolymerized microtubules made from purified tubulin in vitro. The binding of quercetin with tubulin was studied using quercetin fluorescence and intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence of tubulin. Quercetin bound to tubulin at a single site with a dissociation constant of 5-7 microM, and it specifically inhibited colchicine binding to tubulin but did not bind at the vinblastine site. In addition, quercetin perturbed the secondary structure of tubulin, and the binding of quercetin stimulated the intrinsic GTPase activity of soluble tubulin. Further, quercetin stabilized tubulin against decay and protected two cysteine residues of tubulin toward chemical modification by 5,5'-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid. Our data demonstrated that the binding of quercetin to tubulin induces conformational changes in tubulin and a mechanism through which quercetin could perturb microtubule polymerization dynamics has been proposed. The data suggest that quercetin inhibits cancer cells proliferation at least in part by perturbing microtubule functions through tubulin binding.     

MAP2 and tau bind longitudinally along the outer ridges of microtubule protofilaments

MAP2 and tau exhibit microtubule-stabilizing activities that are implicated in the development and maintenance of neuronal axons and dendrites. The proteins share a homologous COOH-terminal domain, composed of three or four microtubule binding repeats separated by inter-repeats (IRs). To investigate how MAP2 and tau stabilize microtubules, we calculated 3D maps of microtubules fully decorated with MAP2c or tau using cryo-EM and helical image analysis. Comparing these maps with an undecorated microtubule map revealed additional densities along protofilament ridges on the microtubule exterior, indicating that MAP2c and tau form an ordered structure when they bind microtubules. Localization of undecagold attached to the second IR of MAP2c showed that IRs also lie along the ridges, not between protofilaments. The densities attributable to the microtubule-associated proteins lie in close proximity to helices 11 and 12 and the COOH terminus of tubulin. Our data further suggest that the evolutionarily maintained differences observed in the repeat domain may be important for the specific targeting of different repeats to either alpha or beta tubulin. These results provide strong evidence suggesting that MAP2c and tau stabilize microtubules by binding along individual protofilaments, possibly by bridging the tubulin interfaces.     

THE MECHANISM OF ACTION OF COLCHICINE : Colchicine Binding Properties of Sea Urchin Sperm Tail Outer Doublet Tubulin

The thermal depolymerization procedure of Stephens (1970. J. Mol. Biol. 47:353) has been employed for solubilization of Strongylocentrotus purpuratus sperm tail outer doublet microtubules with the use of a buffer during solubilization which is of optimal pH and ionic strength for the preservation of colchicine binding activity of chick embryo brain tubulin. Colchicine binding values were corrected for first-order decay during heat solubilization at 50°C (t_½ = 5.4 min) and incubation with colchicine at 37°C in the presence of vinblastine sulfate (t_½ = 485 min). The colchicine binding properties of heat-solubilized outer doublet tubulin were qualitatively identical with those of other soluble forms of tubulin. The solubilized tubulin (mol wt, 115,000) bound 0.9 ± 0.2 mol of colchicine per mol of tubulin, with a binding constant of 6.3 x 10⁵ liters/mol at 37°C. The colchicine binding reaction was both time and temperature dependent, and the binding of colchicine was prevented in a competitive manner by podophyllotoxin (K_i = 1.3 x 10^-6 M). The first-order decay of colchicine binding activity was substantially decreased by the addition of the vinca alkaloids, vinblastine sulfate or vincristine sulfate, thus demonstrating the presence of a vinca alkaloid binding site(s) on the outer doublet tubulin. Tubulin contained within the assembled microtubules did not decay. Intact outer doublet microtubules bound less than 0.001 mol of colchicine per mol of tubulin contained in the microtubules, under conditions where soluble tubulin would have bound 1 mol of colchicine per mol of tubulin (saturating concentration of colchicine, no decay of colchicine binding activity). The presence of colchicine had no effect on the rate of solubilization of outer doublet microtubules during incubation at 37°C. Therefore, the colchicine binding site on tubulin is blocked (not available to bind colchicine) when the tubulin is in the assembled outer doublet microtubules.     

Tubulin-myosin interaction. Some properties of binding between tubulin and myosin

This report presents evidence suggesting the direct binding between tubulin and myosin: (1) coprecipitation of tubulin with myosin occurred at a low ionic strength at which no precipitation of tubulin by itself occurred; (2) the amount of tubulin coprecipitated was unchanged when the coprecipitate was washed thoroughly; (3) about 2 mol of tubulin dimer could bind per mol of myosin at the maximum under our experimental conditions. The binding of about 1 mol of tubulin dimer was influenced by the presence of F-actin, but that of the other 1 mol of tubulin dimer was uninfluenced. In the former binding, tubulin or actin which bound first to myosin was suggested to have a priority. With regard to the priority of the binding, a similar result was obtained from the experiments of tubulin interference in actin activation of myosin Mg2+-ATPase. The tubulin-myosin binding occurred moderately even at 0 degrees C and was not affected by Ca2+ (2 mM), colchicine (200 microM), or Mg-ATP (4 mM), reflecting that the ability of tubulin to bind to myosin was different from the ability of tubulin to form microtubules and that the nature of tubulin-myosin binding was different from that of F-actin-myosin binding. Besides tubulin-myosin interaction, a possible interaction between microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) and actomyosin was suggested from the data that MAPs activated actomyosin MG2+-ATPase activity while purified tubulin inhibited the activity.     

The binding of nonmuscle caldesmon from brain to microtubules. Regulations by Ca(2+)-calmodulin and cdc2 kinase.

Nonmuscle caldesmon from bovine brain bound to microtubules with a stoichiometry of five tubulin dimers to one molecule of caldesmon with values of Ka 4.5 x 10(5) M-1. The binding of caldesmon to microtubules was inhibited in the presence of Ca2+ and calmodulin. The phosphorylation of caldesmon by cdc2 kinase also eliminated the microtubule-binding activity. These results suggest that caldesmon may play a physiological role in the functions of microtubules.