CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 135Microtubule and mitosis dynamicsCancer Treatment and PharmacologyCellular Mechanics and Interactions

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 25 of the 25 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Direct visualization of the microtubule lattice seam both in vitro and in vivo

Open access
Kikkawa, M, Ishikawa, T, Nakata, T, Wakabayashi, T, Hirokawa, N·1994·The Journal of Cell Biology
DOI 10.1083/jcb.127.6.1965PMC PMC2120284
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Microtubules are constructed from alpha- and beta-tubulin heterodimers that are arranged into protofilaments. Most commonly there are 13 or 14 protofilaments. A series of structural investigations using both electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction have indicated that there are two potential lattices (A and B) in which the tubulin subunits can be arranged. Electron microscopy has shown that kinesin heads, which bind only to beta-tubulin, follow a helical path with a 12-nm pitch in which subunits repeat every 8-nm axially, implying a primarily B-type lattice. However, these helical symmetry parameters are not consistent with a closed lattice and imply that there must be a discontinuity or "seam" along the microtubule. We have used quick-freeze deep-etch electron microscopy to obtain the first direct evidence for the presence of this seam in microtubules formed either in vivo or in vitro. In addition to a conventional single seam, we have also rarely found microtubules in which there is more than one seam. Overall our data indicates that microtubules have a predominantly B lattice, but that A lattice bonds between tubulin subunits are found at the seam. The cytoplasmic microtubules in mouse nerve cells also have predominantly B lattice structure and A lattice bonds at the seam. These observations have important implications for the interaction of microtubules with MAPs and with motor proteins, and for example, suggest that kinesin motors may follow a single protofilament track.

Overview

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1083/jcb.127.6.1965

Cites

25 of 25 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Verification

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Show all 25 references

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Items 101–134 of 134

Related

See all

Metadata

Authors
Kikkawa, M., Ishikawa, T., Nakata, T., Wakabayashi, T., & Hirokawa, N.
Affiliations
The University of Tokyo (JP)
ORCID
Venue
The Journal of Cell Biology
Publisher
Rockefeller University Press
Published
1994-12-15
Volume
127
Issue
6
Pages
1965-1971
ISSN
  • 0021-9525 (ISSN-L)
  • 1540-8140
DOI
10.1083/jcb.127.6.1965
PMC
PMC2120284
OpenAlex
W2045594387
Cited by
135
References
25
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 2
FWCI
3.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc-sa
Locations
  • The Journal of Cell Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Microtubule and mitosis dynamics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Treatment and Pharmacology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Cellular Mechanics and Interactions
Keywords
microtubule lattice, protofilaments, tubulin heterodimers, kinesin, helical symmetry, microtubule structure, microtubule-associated proteins, motor proteins
MeSH terms
Animals, Cerebellum, Freeze Etching, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Microscopy, Electron, Microtubules, Models, Molecular, Models, Structural, Protein Binding, Recombinant Proteins, Swine, Tubulin, Kinesins, Mice

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review