FEATURES

FAMILY

DESCRIPTION

Also known as TBA8_HUMAN, TUBA8, TUBAL2. Tubulin is the major constituent of microtubules. It binds two moles of GTP, one at an exchangeable site on the beta chain and one at a non-exchangeable site on the alpha chain. Dimer of alpha and beta chains. A typical microtubule is a hollow water-filled tube with an outer diameter of 25 nm and an inner diameter of 15 nM. Alpha-beta heterodimers associate head-to-tail to form protofilaments running lengthwise along the microtubule wall with the beta-tubulin subunit facing the microtubule plus end conferring a structural polarity. Microtubules usually have 13 protofilaments but different protofilament numbers can be found in some organisms and specialized cells.

EXTERNAL LINKS

TUBA8

Tubulin alpha-8 chain

TUBA8

Molecular Synopsis