Blog

Cracking the tubulin code: enzyme structures offer clues to microtubule control

Nature, Published online: 11 September 2024; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-02822-7

Cellular structural filaments called microtubules are made up of units of tubulin proteins. Various enzymes add modifications to and remove them from tubulin units; together, these modifications form a ‘tubulin code’ that controls microtubule function. Structures of an enzyme called CCP5 reveal how it deforms tubulin tails to recognize and remove modifications called single-glutamate branches.