Expression Patterns and Levels of All Tubulin Isotypes Analyzed in GFP Knock-In C. elegans Strains

Cell structure and function

article

Kei Nishida¹  Kenta Tsuchiya¹  Hiroyuki Obinata¹  Shizuka Onodera¹  Yu Honda¹  Yen-Cheng Lai¹  Nami Haruta¹  Asako Sugimoto¹ 

[1] Laboratory of Developmental Dynamics, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University

关键词: tubulin isotypes;    microtubules;    C;    elegans;   

DOI  :  10.1247/csf.21022

学科分类：分子生物学，细胞生物学和基因

来源: Japan Society for Cell Biology

【 摘 要 】

Most organisms have multiple α- and β-tubulin isotypes that likely contribute to the diversity of microtubule (MT) functions. To understand the functional differences of tubulin isotypes in Caenorhabditis elegans , which has nine α-tubulin isotypes and six β-tubulin isotypes, we systematically constructed null mutants and GFP-fusion strains for all tubulin isotypes with the CRISPR/Cas9 system and analyzed their expression patterns and levels in adult hermaphrodites. Four isotypes—α-tubulins TBA-1 and TBA-2 and β-tubulins TBB-1 and TBB-2—were expressed in virtually all tissues, with a distinct tissue-specific spectrum. Other isotypes were expressed in specific tissues or cell types at significantly lower levels than the broadly expressed isotypes. Four isotypes (TBA-5, TBA-6, TBA-9, and TBB-4) were expressed in different subsets of ciliated sensory neurons, and TBB-4 was inefficiently incorporated into mitotic spindle MTs. Taken together, we propose that MTs in C. elegans are mainly composed of four broadly expressed tubulin isotypes and that incorporation of a small amount of tissue-specific isotypes may contribute to tissue-specific MT properties. These newly constructed strains will be useful for further elucidating the distinct roles of tubulin isotypes.

【 授权许可】

Unknown