上海科技大学知识管理系统

Microtubules, a major component of the cytoskeletonconsisting of tubulin dimers, are involved in various cellular functions,including forming axons and dendrites of neurons and retaining cell shapesby forming various accumulated superstructures such as bundles anddoublets. Moreover, microtubule-accumulated structures like swarmingmicrotubule assemblies are attractive components for dynamic materials,such as active matter and molecular robots. Thus, dynamic control ofmicrotubule superstructures is an important topic. However, implementingstimulus-dependent control of superstructures remains challenging. Thischallenge can be resolved by developing designer protein approaches. Wehave previously developed a Tau-derived peptide (TP), which binds to theinner or outer surface of microtubules depending on the timing of theincubation. In this report, we designed the TP-fused photoswitchableprotein Dronpa (TP-Dronpa) that reversibly photoconverts between monomeric and tetrameric states to photocontrol microtubuleassemblies. The formation of microtubule superstructures, including bundles and doublets, was induced by tetrameric TP-Dronpa,whereas monomeric TP-Dronpa ensured that microtubules remained dispersed. Tetrameric TP-Dronpa also induced motile aster-like structures and swarming movement of microtubules on a kinesin-coated substrate. The formation/dissociation of thesemicrotubule superstructures can be controlled by light irradiation. This system can generate and photocontrol various microtubulesuperstructures and provides an approach to facilitate the assembly of dynamic materials for various applications.