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. 1993 Nov 5;75(3):419-29.
doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90377-3.

Identification of katanin, an ATPase that severs and disassembles stable microtubules

F J McNally  1 , R D Vale
Affiliations

Identification of katanin, an ATPase that severs and disassembles stable microtubules

F J McNally et al. Cell. .

Abstract

Eukaryotic cells rapidly reorganize their microtubule cytoskeleton during the cell cycle, differentiation, and cell migration. In this study, we have purified a heterodimeric protein, katanin, that severs and disassembles microtubules to tubulin dimers. The disassembled tubulin can repolymerize, indicating that it is not irreversibly modified or denatured in the reaction. Katanin is a microtubule-stimulated ATPase and requires ATP hydrolysis to sever microtubules. Katanin represents a novel type of enzyme that utilizes energy from nucleotide hydrolysis to break tubulin-tubulin bonds within a microtubule polymer, a process that may aid in disassembling complex microtubule arrays within cells.

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