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-Structure paper
Title | Three-dimensional structure of basal body triplet revealed by electron cryo-tomography. |
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Journal, issue, pages | EMBO J, Vol. 31, Issue 3, Page 552-562, Year 2012 |
Publish date | Feb 1, 2012 |
Authors | Sam Li / Jose-Jesus Fernandez / Wallace F Marshall / David A Agard / |
PubMed Abstract | Basal bodies and centrioles play central roles in microtubule (MT)-organizing centres within many eukaryotes. They share a barrel-shaped cylindrical structure composed of nine MT triplet blades. ...Basal bodies and centrioles play central roles in microtubule (MT)-organizing centres within many eukaryotes. They share a barrel-shaped cylindrical structure composed of nine MT triplet blades. Here, we report the structure of the basal body triplet at 33 Å resolution obtained by electron cryo-tomography and 3D subtomogram averaging. By fitting the atomic structure of tubulin into the EM density, we built a pseudo-atomic model of the tubulin protofilaments at the core of the triplet. The 3D density map reveals additional densities that represent non-tubulin proteins attached to the triplet, including a large inner circular structure in the basal body lumen, which functions as a scaffold to stabilize the entire basal body barrel. We found clear longitudinal structural variations along the basal body, suggesting a sequential and coordinated assembly mechanism. We propose a model in which δ-tubulin and other components participate in the assembly of the basal body. |
External links | EMBO J / PubMed:22157822 / PubMed Central |
Methods | EM (subtomogram averaging) |
Resolution | 33.0 Å |
Structure data | EMDB-5252: |
Source |
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