Self-assembly of microtubules in extracts of cultured HeLa cells and the identification of HeLa microtubule-associated proteins.

Microtubule protein from HeLa cell extracts was purified by multiple cycles of polymerization and depolymerization in the absence of glycerol or other exogenous polymerization-stimulatory agents. Approximately 4-5% of the extract protein was tubulin, of which more than one-half was competent to participate in polymerization-depolymerization cycles. The purified HeLa microtubule protein preparations contained 95% tubulin after the second cycle of polymerization and depolymerization. Additional protein species bound specifically to and copurified quantitatively with microtubules throughout at least four cycles of polymerization and depolymerization. These microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) were separated from tubulin by DEAE column chromatography. When added to purified brain or HeLa tubulin, these MAPs stimulated the polymerization of microtubules as assayed by electron microscopy and a quantitative sedimentation assay. The most prominent HeLa MAPs had molecular weights of approximately 210,000 and 120,000.