Assembly of microtubules from tubulin bearing the nonhydrolyzable guanosine triphosphate analogue GMPPCP [guanylyl 5'-(beta, gamma-methylenediphosphonate)]: variability of growth rates and the hydrolysis of GTP.

The growth and shortening of microtubules in guanosine triphosphate-(GTP-) mediated dynamic instability has previously been observed to occur at rates which are remarkably variable (Gildersleeve et al., 1992, Chrétien et al., 1995). Neighboring microtubules observed simultaneously can grow or shorten at different rates, and a particular microtubule can undergo changes in rate with the passage of time. This paper addresses the question whether this variability has its origin in processes that involve GTP hydrolysis or whether it results from variations in the structure of microtubules that are independent of GTP hydrolysis. Tubulin was prepared with the nonhydrolyzable GTP analogue GMPPCP [guanylyl 5'-(beta, gamma-methylenediphosphonate)] bound to its exchangeable nucleotide-binding site and with GTP at its nonexchangeable site. Extensive measurements of length changes were obtained by DIC microscopy. Microtubules formed from the GMPPCP tubulin exhibited only growth. No shortening events were observed. Growth occurred at highly variable rates, indistinguishable from those exhibited by GTP tubulin. Subsequent analysis of nucleotides by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) revealed that some of the GTP that was initially present at the N-site underwent hydrolysis to produce microtubule-bound guanosine diphosphate (GDP). Despite this unexpected finding, one can conclude that variability of growth rate certainly occurs independently of dynamic instability and probably does not involve hydrolysis of GTP at the E-site.