Crystallization Systems for the High-Resolution Structural Analysis of Tubulin-Ligand Complexes

Abstract

Since the first moderate resolution, structural description of Taxol bound to tubulin by electron crystallography in 1998, several tubulin crystal systems have been developed and optimized for the high-resolution analysis of tubulin-ligand complexes by X-ray crystallography. Here we describe three tubulin crystal systems that have allowed investigating the molecular mechanisms of action of a large number of diverse anti-tubulin agents.

Keywords: Crystallization; Drugs; Microtubules; Tubulin; X-ray crystallography.