Mechanism of microtubule severing enzymes

National Institute Of Neurological Disorders And Stroke

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Abstract

Cells constantly assemble and disassemble their microtubule cytoskeleton through the concerted action of microtubule polymerases, depolymerases, crosslinkers and severing enzymes. Microtubule severing enzymes spastin and katanin generate internal breaks in microtubules. They are are critical in a wide range of cell biological processes including biogenesis of neuronal and non-centrosomal microtubule arrays, phototropism, spindle scaling, chromosome segregation, and control of centriole and cilia numbers. Mutations in microtubule severing enzymes cause severe neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders. The mechanism used by these enzymes to destabilize the microtubule and their effect on microtubule dynamics and the morphology of microtubule networks is still poorly understood. We aim (1) to understand the structural transitions that spastin and katanin undergo during microtubule disassembly; (2) characterize the mechanism of ATP hydrolysis in the katanin and spastin hexamers during the microtubule severing reaction and how they are coupled to the mechanical work of tubulin dimer removal from the microtubule lattice; (3) establish the effects of tubulin modifications on microtubule severing; (4) characterize the effects of microtubule severing enzymes on microtubule dynamics and architecture; (5) develop a comprehensive understanding of how spastin and katanin disease mutations associated with hereditary spastic paraplegia and microcephaly, respectively, affect protein structure and function and (6) identify cellular factors that regulate spastin and katanin. Despite it being a basic mechanism to destabilize microtubules, we know very little about severing, not in small part due to the lack of any structural information. The mechanism of destabilizing microtubules from their ends is far better understood, in large part due to the wealth of structural information on the molecular machines involved, obtained by X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy. A mechanistic approach to the study of microtubule severing enzymes will provide a new framework for analyses and design of cellular studies. Moreover, insights into the mechanism of action of severing enzymes will likely hold implications for AAA ATPase in general, a large class of proteins still poorly understood, despite the fact that every major pathway in the human body contains an AAA ATPase. This year we have continued our studies into the structure of microtubule severing enzymes in complex with their regulators using cryo-EM and single molecule fluorescence imaging.