RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Precise control of microtubule disassembly in living cells
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.10.08.463668
DO 10.1101/2021.10.08.463668
A1 Grace Y. Liu
A1 Shiau-Chi Chen
A1 Kritika Shaiv
A1 Shi-Rong Hong
A1 Wen-Ting Yang
A1 Shih-Han Huang
A1 Ya-Chu Chang
A1 Hsuan Cheng
A1 Yu-Chun Lin
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/10/09/2021.10.08.463668.abstract
AB Microtubules (MTs) are components of the evolutionarily conserved cytoskeleton, which tightly regulates various cellular activities. Our understanding of MTs is largely based on MT-targeting agents, which, however, are insufficient to dissect the dynamic mechanisms of specific MT populations due to their slow effects on the entire pool of MTs in cells. To address this limitation, we have used chemogenetics and optogenetics to disassemble specific MT subtypes by rapid recruitment of engineered MT-cleaving enzymes. Acute MT disassembly swiftly halted vesicular trafficking and lysosome dynamics. We also used this approach to disassemble MTs specifically modified by tyrosination and several MT-based structures including primary cilia, mitotic spindles, and intercellular bridges. These effects were rapidly reversed by inhibiting the activity or MT association of the cleaving enzymes. The disassembly of targeted MTs with spatial and temporal accuracy enables to uncover new insights of how MTs precisely regulate cellular architectures and functions.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.