Hector Aldaz

currently a postdoc at UC Berkeley

Structure/Function Studies on Human γ-Tubulin

Microtubules are polymers of α/β tubulin which are required for the trafficking of different cargo during interphase and for mitotic spindle assembly during mitosis. Microtubule dynamics are altered throughout the cell cycle to perform these different tasks. A variety of factors are responsible for this regulation, including microtubule stabilizers, microtubule destabilizers, and microtubule nucleators. γ-Tubulin is the primary component of the γ-Tubulin Ring Complex (γ-TuRC), the protein complex responsible for microtubule nucleation at the centrosome. In collaboration with Steve Murphy and Tim Stearns (Stanford), we can now generate milligram amounts of recombinant human γ-tubulin. Structure/function studies of the protein are currently underway in an effort to understand

1.) γ-tubulin oligomerization,

2.) γ/α-β tubulin interactions, and

3.) conditons suitable for X-ray crystallography.