Charcoal adsorption assay for measurement of colchicine binding and tubulin content of crude tissue extracts.

A rapid, reproducible, and quantitative colchicine-binding assay for tubulin content of crude tissue extracts is described and applied to the high speed supernatant fraction of rat liver homogenates. Utilizing Scatchard plots, the colchicine-tubulin association constant is found to be in general agreement with values reported for purified tubulin from other sources.     

Radioimmunoassay for tubulin: a quantitative comparison of the tubulin content of different established tissue culture cells and tissues

A quantitative estimate of the cellular tubulin concentration can be obtained by the use of a radioimmunoassay based upon the competition between tubulin in cell extracts and a known amount of radioactively labeled homogeneous tubulin during binding to a limited amount of antitubulin antibodies. This assay shows that a variety of widely used tissue culture cells (mouse L cells, mouse 3T3 cells, chick embryo fibroblasts) have a tubulin content which corresponds to approximately 2.5-3.3% of their total protein. Transformation of mouse 3T3 cells by the DNA virus SV40, and of chick embryo cells by the RNA Rous sarcoma virus, does not change the intracellular tubulin concentration. Transformed cells of brain origin, such as some glia tumor cell lines and some neuroblastoma cell lines, have a much lower tubulin content than does normal brain tissue.The intracellular concentration of tubulin in mouse 3T3 cells is discussed in relation to the number of microtubules detected during interphase by immunofluorescence microscopy. These results are also discussed in view of a mechanism of microtubule elongation in vivo driven by self-assembly.     

Stabilization of hepatic colchicine-binding activity by organic acids

Previous work has shown that the total hepatic tubulin pool and the hepatic microtubule-derived tubulin pool do not have identical [3H]colchicine binding properties. Rapid loss of colchicine-binding activity was noted in the microtubule-derived fractions of liver tubulin. Furthermore, quantitative determination of the total and polymerized tubulin in the liver by the [3H]colchicine-binding assay was hampered by rapid and unequal loss of binding sites under assay conditions. The organic acids, glutamate and glucose 1-phosphate, have been shown to stabilize calf brain tubulin against loss of colchicine-binding sites. Therefore, these compounds were tested as possible protecting agents against loss of colchicine binding activity of liver tubulin. It was found that these agents stabilized liver tubulin under [3H]colchicine-binding conditions. Additional experiments showed that these agents also prevented the rapid loss of colchicine-binding activity that occurred when purified brain tubulin was exposed to liver supernates. These results suggest that the inclusion of the organic acids, glutamate and glucose 1-phosphate, may modify the time decay properties of liver tubulin in solution. Further, these data suggest that these protecting agents may be of analytical value in [3H]colchicine-binding assay systems for liver tubulin.     

Microtubule assembly in developing mammalian brain.

Microtubule protein was measured in mouse brain homogenates by quantitative colchicine binding. Neonatal animals contained more than twice the amount of brain tubulin as adult mice. The percentage of colchicine-binding protein which was polymerized was determined by extracting brain at room temperature into a medium designed to stabilize intact microtubules. Under identical conditions and tubulin concentrations, neonatal brain tubulin (colchicine-binding activity) had a greater proportion of the total extracted in an apparently polymerized state (pelletable by centrifugation) than did adult brain. A slight variation in the ratio of assembled to unassembled tubulin was observed with varying protein concentration (volume of extract), indicating that the values obtained may not reflect exactly the in vivo situation, because a rapid equilibration takes place upon homogenization. At all protein concentrations, the neonatal brain extracts contained a significantly greater proportion of assembled tubulin than did adult brain. This proportion began to fall at 5 days postnatal and reached the adult level at 30 days. The tubulin assembled/not assembled ratios were not altered by addition of nucleoside triphosphates, additional EGTA, or sulfhydryl protecting agents, and did not vary with preparation times of 30–90 min. The colchicine-binding reaction and decay of colchicine-binding activity with time were similar in extracts of different aged mouse brains, with neonatal slightly more stable than adult. Pools of tubulin from any age which were soluble at room temperature (unpolymerized) could not repolymerize well in vitro when incubated with GTP at 37 °C, whereas pools of tubulin which were sedimentable at room temperature (polymerized) could be redissolved at 0 °C and readily reassembled at 37 °C. The neonatal extract tubulin was thus more polymerization competent than the adult extracts; this correlates with a greater proportion of assembled tubulin in extracts at room temperature and possibly in vivo.     

A sensitive method for measuring polymerized and depolymerized forms of tubulin in tissues

A rapid method for measuring polymerized and depolymerized forms of tubulin in tissues has been developed. The procedure consists of homogenization and centrifugation of the tissue in a microtubule- stabilizing solution and depolymerization of the precipitated microtubules; polymerized and depolymerized forms of tubulin are quantitated by a colchicine-binding assay. The validity of the technique was assessed by electron microscopy and recovery studies with labeled and unlabeled preparations of polymerized and depolymerized forms of rat brain tubulin. The sensitivity of this technique allows quantitation of tubulin in 150 micrograms of tissue, wet weight. The method demonstrated that both the polymerized and depolymerized forms of tubulin were present in rat liver cells, and that in the fed state 31.3 +/-0.7% of the total tubulin pool was in the polymerized form.     

Membrane-bound tubulin in brain and thyroid tissue.

Brain and thyroid tissue contain membrane-bound colchicine-binding activity that is not due to contamination by loosely bound cytoplasmic tubulin. This activity can be solubilized to the extent of 80 to 90% by treatment with 0.2% Nonidet P-40 with retention of colchicine binding. Extracts so obtained contain a prominent protein band in disc gel electrophoresis that co-migrates with tubulin. Membranes, and the solubilized protein therefrom, exhibit ligand binding properties like tubulin; for colchicine the KA is approximately 1 X 10(6) M-1 in brain and approximately 0.6 X 10(6) M-1 in thyroid; for vinblastine the KA is approximately 8 X 10(6) M-1 for both tissues; and for podophyllotoxin the Ki is approximately 2 X 10(-6) M for both tissues. Displacement by analogues of colchicine is of the same order as for soluble tubulin. Although membrane-bound colchicine-binding activity shows greater thermal stability and a higher optimum binding temperature (54 degrees versus 37 degrees) than soluble tubulin, this appears to be the result of the membrane environment since the solubilized binding activity behaves like the soluble tubulin. Antibody against soluble brain tubulin reacts with membranes and solubulized colchicine-binding activity from both brain and thyroid gland. We conclude that brain and thyroid membrane preparations contain firmly bound tubulin or a very similar protein.     

Tubulin constancy during morphological differentiation of mouse neuroblastoma cells

Clonal cell lines N18 and N103 of the mouse neuroblastoma C1300 possess an undifferentiated neuroblast morphology under optimal growth conditions; however, when deprived of serum, N18 can be induced to extend long neurites. Although initial neurite outgrowth is rapid, very long fibers are found only after several days. Both initial outgrowths and established neurites contain microtubules; however, the number and density of these polymerized tubules increase markedly during this time. Optimum conditions have been established for assessing the colchicine-binding activity of neuroblastoma sonicates. A time-decay colchicine-binding assay was used to make a comparative study of the tubulin content of both undifferentiated and differentiated N18 as well as the nondifferentiating N103 and the rat glioma C6. Both morphologies of clone N18 possessed similar concentrations of tubulin (130-140 pmol/10(6) cells). Although cells of clone N103 contain 20% less tubulin than N18 cells, this is considerably more tubulin than is present in the glioma C6 (30 pmol/10(6) cells) which has a similar generation time. Quantitative densitometry of neuroblastoma extracts electrophoresed on SDS-polyacrylamide gels confirmed the constancy of tubulin. Radiolabeled proteins from neuroblastoma cells subjected to both growth conditions show that neurite outgrowth does not create a disproportionate demand for tubulin synthesis. Thus, the morphological differentiation of neuroblastoma cells probably reflects the regulation of tubulin storage and microtubule polymerization.     

A modified colchicine-binding assay for the measurement of total and microtubule-derived tubulin in rat liver

The usual measurement of liver tubulin by the colchicine-binding assay does not take into account the accelerated decay of the colchicine-binding capacity of tubulin when liver supernatants, especially those containing microtubule-derived tubulin, are incubated at 37°C. This results in marked underestimations. Our findings indicate that this alteration is due to an inhibitor of colchicine-tubulin binding in liver supernatants that is probably extracted from particulate fractions. The inhibitory activity is decreased by dilution of the supernatants and by increasing the concentration of colchicine. However, the former modification decreases the sensitivity of the assay and the latter increases the nonspecific binding of colchicine to liver proteins other than tubulin. Assessment of the decay and correction for it by calculating the initial binding capacity results in complete recovery of brain tubulin from liver supernatants and values for microtubule-derived tubulin that closely correspond to those expected from simultaneous morphometric assessment of liver microtubules by electron microscopy. The modified method also indicates that the fraction of liver tubulin assembled in microtubules is greater than previously reported.     

Properties of tubulin in unfertilized sea urchin eggs. Quantitation and characterization by the colchicine-binding reaction

The colchicine-binding assay was used to quantitate the tubulin concentration in unfertilized Strongylocentrotus purpuratus eggs and to characterize pharmacological properties of this tubulin. Specificity of colchicine binding to tubulin was demonstrated by apparent first-order decay colchicine-binding activity with stabilization by vinblastine sulfate, time and temperature dependence of the reaction, competitive inhibition by podophyllotoxin, and lack of effect of lumicolchicine. The results demonstrate that the minimum tubulin concentration in the unfertilized egg is 2.71 mg per milliliter or 5.0% of the total soluble cell protein. Binding constants and decay rates were determined at six different temperatures between 8 degrees C and 37 degrees C, and the thermodynamic parameters of the reaction were calculated. delta H0=6.6 kcal/mol, delta S0=46.5 eu, and, at 13 degrees C, delta G=-6.7 kcal/mol. The association constants obtained were similar to those of isolated sea urchin egg vinblastine paracrystals (Bryan, J. 1972. Biochemistry. 11:2611-2616) but approximately 10 times lower than that obtained for purified chick embryo brain tubulin at 37 degrees C (Wilson, L.J.R. Bamburg, S.B. Mizel, L. Grisham, and K. Creswell. 1974. Fed Proc. 33:158-166). Therefore, the lower binding constants for colchicine in tubulin-vinblastine paracrystals are not due to the paracrystalline organization of the tubulin, but are properties of the sea urchin egg tubulin itself.     

发育中小鼠和鸡胚脑微管蛋白的合成与甲状腺功能间的关系

利用 ³H-秋水仙碱与微管蛋白间的特异结合及DEAE纤维素对微管蛋白的离子交换作用,连续测定小鼠、鸡胚脑发育过程中的脑微管蛋白的合成变化。结果表明脑微管蛋白的合成速度均在其脑发育的临界期时达到最高峰。此时恰是甲状腺功能逐渐完善的时期。当小鼠进入育龄期时,雌雄鼠脑微管蛋白含量差异显著。可能说明性激素对微管蛋白的合成有重要影响。     

Immunological detection of microtubule poison-induced conformational changes in tubulin

The interaction of tubulin-microtubule poison complexes with anti-tubulin antisera has been investigated using radioimmunoassay. The binding of the major antiserum used in this study to tubulin does not interfere with the binding of colchicine to the tubulin or affect the decay of the colchicine-binding activity of the tubulin. Conversely, if colchicine is incubated with the tubulin, forming tubulin-colchicine complexes, the tubulin-colchicine complexes are less efficient competitors for antibody-binding sites than tubulin alone. This is the result of the formation of specific colchicine-tubulin complexes, since tubulin, incubated with lumicolchicine or isocolchicine, behaves as if the tubulin were incubated alone in the radioimmunoassay. When tubulin is incubated with other microtubule poisons, podophyllotoxin or vinblastine, the tubulin-drug complexes have diminished ability to compete with tubulin as did the tubulin-colchicine complexes. These changes observed in the binding of tubulin-microtubule poison complexes to anti-tubulin antisera in a tubulin radioimmunoassay suggest that the binding of colchicine, podophyllotoxin, or vinblastine to tubulin induces subtle conformational changes on the surface of the tubulin dimer involving antigenic determinant sites.     

Colchicine-binding measurements of tubulin in variously sampled and incubated tissues from the mammalian brain

Tissue preparations from the brain of rats and guinea-pigs were examined for their activity in binding isotopically labelled colchicine, as a measure of their content of tubulin. The amount of binding material extracted into a cold buffered solution was unaffected by keeping tissues at 0°C. It diminished by one quarter when tissues were incubated at 37°C in bicarbonate glucose salines for 1–2 h. This diminution increased when glucose was omitted from incubating solutions and was less when tissues were stimulated electrically. It was modified also by the calcium content of the incubation fluids. Of the binding activity lost on incubation only a little was recovered in surrounding fluids. About half the colchicine-binding activity of the tissues was not extracted by the solution employed; this particulate-attached activity changed little, if at all, on normal incubation but diminished when incubating fluids contained a cyclic AMP-fluoride theophylline mixture which was known to modify tubulin assembly.The retention of both categories of colchicine-binding under normal conditions of incubation is consistent with the ability of such tissues to perform microtubule-dependent processes, notably cytoplasmic transport. Examination of the isolated tissues by the methods reported is of value in indicating which of various factors known to affect separated tubulin and microtubule structures, operate in a cell-containing system under chosen experimental conditions.     

Quantitative biochemical analysis of microtubule content in normal and transformed 3T3 cells

Microtubules in normal and transformed BALB 3T3 cells were preserved in a stabilizing medium and measured by a [3H]colchicine-binding tubulin assay, and compared to total cellular tubulin measured under nonstabilizing conditions. Essentially no change in tubulin or microtubule content was seen with changes in cell density or with changes in cellular morphology at various stages of growth of normal or transformed cells or induced by dibutyryl cAMP treatment of transformed cells. Of five cell lines transformed by a variety of agents, four had a significantly higher total tubulin content than untransformed 3T3 cells and all of them had an increased microtubule content. None of the transformed lines had a lower fraction of tubulin recoverable as sedimentable microtubules compared to untransformed cells, and in three of them this fraction was significantly higher. These results establish that microtubules are present in transformed cells to at least the extent (if not greater) than in normal cells but that there are variations in the total amount of tubulin and microtubules as well as the fraction of the total tubulin present as microtubules which are not strictly correlated with transformation or cell morphology.     

Expression of simian virus 40 gene A affects tubulin stability.

The stability of tubulins present in crude extracts of untransformed BALB/c-3T3 mouse fibroblasts, Chinese hamster lung cells, and various of their simian virus 40 transformants was assessed by measurement of their individual colchicine-binding decay rates. In all cases studied the decays followed the kinetics of first-order reactions, and rates were reduced at low temperatures and by vinblastine sulfate. Under all assay conditions, including different temperatures and protein concentrations, tubulins of normal cells decayed considerably faster than those of simian virus 40-transformed cells. Experiments performed with a number of Chinese hamster lung cell clones transformed with temperature-sensitive simian virus 40 gene A mutants showed a clear correlation between increased tubulin stability and the expression of gene A function. These results suggest that it is T-antigen, the viral gene A product, that affects tubulin.     

Intrinsically slow dynamic instability of HeLa cell microtubules in vitro

The dynamic behavior of mammalian microtubules has been extensively studied, both in living cells and with microtubules assembled from purified brain tubulin. To understand the intrinsic dynamic behavior of mammalian nonneural microtubules, we purified tubulin from cultured HeLa cells. We find that HeLa cell microtubules exhibit remarkably slow dynamic instability, spending most of their time in an attenuated state. The tempered dynamics contrast sharply with the dynamics of microtubules prepared from purified bovine brain tubulin under similar conditions. In accord with their minimal dynamic instability, assembled HeLa cell microtubules displayed a slow treadmilling rate and a low guanosine-5'-triphosphate hydrolysis rate at steady state. We find that unlike brain tubulin, which consists of a heterogeneous mixture of beta-tubulin isotypes (beta(II), beta(III), and beta(IV) and a low level of beta(I)), HeLa cell tubulin consists of beta(I) tubulin ( approximately 80%) and a minor amount of beta(IV) tubulin ( approximately 20%). The slow dynamic behavior of HeLa cell microtubules in vitro differs strikingly from the dynamic behavior of microtubules in living cultured mammalian cells, supporting the idea that accessory factors create the robust dynamics that occur in cells.     

Microtubule protein preparations from C6 glial cells and their spontaneous polymer formation

C6 cell tubulin is indistinguishable from hog brain tubulin with respect to its molecular weight, amino acid composition, and colchicine-binding activity. Moreover, microtubule assembly systems from both sources form the same structures: rings, ribbons, tubules, and drug-induced polymers. There is, nevertheless, a difference between the cultured cell and brain systems which lies in the nature of their microtubule-associated accessory proteins. C6 microtubule preparations exhibit few rings at 0 degrees C, have low polymerization yield, and have a low content of accessory proteins. The addition of brain accessory proteins enhances the numbers of rings, and the yield of microtubules, to levels comparable with those of brain preparations. The polymerizing ability of C6 microtubule protein decays much faster than that of brain, but it can be restored by the addition of brain accessory protein. The results suggest that C6 accessory proteins are more labile than their brain counterparts.     

Assembly of tubulin from cultured cells and comparison with the neurotubulin model

Spontaneous microtubule assembly can be obtained in extracts from a variety of cultured cell lines by including glycerol in the assembly buffer. An analysis of the effects of cultured cell extracts on brain tubulin (neurotubulin) assembly has shown that the extracts contain initiation inhibitors whose effects are diminished by glycerol. By using glycerol during the assembly step, cultured cell tubulin can be purified by assembly-dissassembly procedures. The amount of glycerol necessary for significant spontaneous assembly varies from 1–6 M among the different cell lines and is dependent upon their content of inhibitor. Comparison of the assembly products obtained from NA, C₆ and CHO cells at increasing glycerol concentrations shows that glycerol enhances the purification of tubulin and a polypeptide of molecular weight 49,000 daltons in all three systems. These preparations contain a number of other polypeptides, including a group with gel electrophoretic mobilities characteristic of tau-factor, but lack the high molecular weight microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) which are present in neurotubulin preparations. Phosphocellulose chromatography of NA tubulin removes several proteins from the tubulin and results in a loss of polymerizability. Among three proteins which are completely removed from the inactive tubulin, the most prominent is the 49K protein. This observation and the co-purification of the 49K protein with tubulin through two assembly-disassembly cycles suggest that it is a true MAP. The difference in MAP proteins between brain and tissue culture cells is parallelled by an absence of ring structures in NA tubulin preparations. NA tubulin, however, does form rings when brain MAPs are added. The early steps of NA tubulin assembly differ from those of neurotubulin; no rings are involved, and the first assembly intermediates are straight protofilament bundles. The differences between MAPs from cultured cells and brain and the absence of ring formation in NA tubulin preparations suggest that the assembly model based on neurotubulin is not completely general. A comparison of extracts from CHO cells grown with and without dibutyryl cAMP revealed no differences between the behavior of these extracts in spontaneous tubulin assembly or in mixture experiments with brain tubulin.     

THE EFFECT OF TRIALKYLTIN COMPOUNDS ON TUBULIN POLYMERISATION

The effects of trialkyltin compounds on the colchicine-binding activity and the in vitro polymerisation of rat brain tubulin have been investigated. Trialkyltins at concentrations between 10 and 100 μM inhibited the colchicine-binding activity of purified tubulin preparations derived from rat brain. Viscometric studies have shown that the same concentrations of trialkyltins also inhibited the in vitro polymerisation of tubulin. Both the effects were found to be concentration dependent. However, trialkyltins did not interfere with the in vitro preassembled microtubules. The reasons which are believed to explain the inhibitory effects of these compounds are discussed.     

Identification of novel microtubule inhibitors effective in fission yeast and human cells and their effects on breast cancer cell lines

Microtubules are critical for a variety of cellular processes such as chromosome segregation, intracellular transport and cell shape. Drugs against microtubules have been widely used in cancer chemotherapies, though the acquisition of drug resistance has been a significant issue for their use. To identify novel small molecules that inhibit microtubule organization, we conducted sequential phenotypic screening of fission yeast and human cells. From a library of diverse 10 371 chemicals, we identified 11 compounds that inhibit proper mitotic progression both in fission yeast and in HeLa cells. An in vitro assay revealed that five of these compounds are strong inhibitors of tubulin polymerization. These compounds directly bind tubulin and destabilize the structures of tubulin dimers. We showed that one of the compounds, L1, binds to the colchicine-binding site of microtubules and exhibits a preferential potency against a panel of human breast cancer cell lines compared with a control non-cancer cell line. In addition, L1 overcomes cellular drug resistance mediated by βIII tubulin overexpression and has a strong synergistic effect when combined with the Plk1 inhibitor BI2536. Thus, we have established an economically effective drug screening strategy to target mitosis and microtubules, and have identified a candidate compound for cancer chemotherapy.     

Passive Avoidance Learning Results in Region-Specific Changes in Concentration of and Incorporation into Colchicine-Binding Proteins in the Chick Forebrain

Abstract: Incorporation of [¹⁴T]leucine into trichloracetic acid-precipitable material and tubulin-enriched fractions, and total tubulin levels as determined by colchicine-binding activity and retention on DE81 filter discs, were measured in various regions of the chick brain following training on a one-trial passive avoidance task, suppression of pecking at a chromed bead as a consequence of the aversive taste of methylanthranilate. Radioactive pulse time was 0.5 h. The only brain region in which changes were found was the anterior forebrain roof, the same area in which biochemical changes in response to exposure of the birds to an imprinting stimulus have been observed previously. In the anterior forebrain roof the changes observed as a consequence of training were detectable at 0.5 and 24 h after the 10-s training experience but not 48 h subsequently. One-half hour after training, there were increases of the order of 20 or 30% in [¹⁴T]leucine incorporation into particulate and postmitochondrial TCA-precipitable material and a tubulin-enriched fraction purified as above. There were comparable increases in the total amount of colchicine-binding activity. By 48 h, none of these increases were detectable. Subcellular fractionation of the particulate fraction showed that most of the increase of incorporation into the tubulin-enriched fraction and in colchicine-binding activity was present in the soluble content of the synaptosomes; there were no increases in either measure in the synaptic membrane fraction. The possible role of changed levels and turnover of tubulin in the plastic responses of the brain to learning experiences is discussed.