NTU Undergraduates' research April 2014 - Biosciences | Seite 63

Sean Mather
Nottingham Trent University 2014

Tutor. Dr Hargreaves

Review: the interaction of tubulin with biological and
artificial membranes
Sean SK. Mather
Nottingham Trent University, School of Science and Technology, Clifton Lane, Clifton, Nottingham,
NG11 8NS
(Correspondence e-mail: [e-mail])
Abstract: Tubulin is known to be the main component of microtubules which form a crucial part of
the cellular cytoskeleton - in turn this facilitates the maintenance of cell structure, vesicle transport
and organelle shuffling; additionally, it is evident that tubulin itself can associate with membranes
and receptors in a microtubule-independent manner. Exactly why tubulin will interact is not always
clear, and whether this is due to tubulin modification, or simply because of regions of
hydrophobicity contained within the molecule needs to be verified. Nevertheless, it can be noted
that tubulin can influence cellular processes such as cell metabolism and even be associated with
apoptosis. This review will provide evidence of the other responsibilities of tubulin, including
microtubule polymerisation, whilst trying to understand the mechanism by which these actions
may occur.

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