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Relationship: 714
Title
Binding, Tubulin leads to Disruption, Microtubule dynamics
Upstream event
Downstream event
AOPs Referencing Relationship
| AOP Name | Adjacency | Weight of Evidence | Quantitative Understanding | Point of Contact | Author Status | OECD Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemical binding to tubulin in oocytes leading to aneuploid offspring | adjacent | High | Cataia Ives (send email) | Open for citation & comment | EAGMST Under Review |
Taxonomic Applicability
Sex Applicability
| Sex | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Mixed | High |
Life Stage Applicability
| Term | Evidence |
|---|---|
| All life stages | High |
Chemicals that bind to tubulin on colchicine or vinca domain directly interfere with the addition of new tubulin dimers to the microtubules. The result of this process is a net loss of microtubules (i.e., microtubule depolymerization).
| ID | Experimental Design | Species | Upstream Observation | Downstream Observation | Citation (first author, year) | Notes |
|---|
| Title | First Author | Biological Plausibility |
Dose Concordance |
Temporal Concordance |
Incidence Concordance |
|---|
Biological Plausibility
Dose Concordance Evidence
Temporal Concordance Evidence
Incidence Concordance Evidence
Uncertainties and Inconsistencies
No apparent uncertainties or inconsistencies. This KER is biologically plausible and broadly accepted. Indeed, in vitro assays to measure tubulin depolymerization are well standardized and represent the gold standard to determine whether a chemical is binding to tubulin.
Microtubules assembled in vitro contain several minor protein components that have been referred to as microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs). Several of these proteins are believed to play a role in the microtubule assembly process [Kakiu & Sato, 2016]. MAPs have been shown to inhibit colchicine binding to tubulin in a competitive manner. In contrast, Mg2+, which also induces microtubule assembly in vitro, had no effect on colchicine binding to tubulin [Nunez J et al. 1978].
As described above, the quantitative relationship is well established for colchicine, and other chemicals are benchmarked against this chemical [Brunner et al., 1991]. Microtubule assembly is inhibited by approximately 50% when half of the tubulin dimers are bound by colchicine [Margolis et al., 1980], and a concentration of 2.5 μM of colchicine is needed to inhibit microtubule polymerization by 50% [Zavala et al., 1980].
Response-response Relationship
Microtubule assembly is inhibited by approximately 50% when half of the tubulin dimers are bound by colchicine [Margolis et al., 1980], and a concentration of 2.5 μM of colchicine is needed to inhibit microtubule polymerization by 50% [Zavala et al., 1980].
Time-scale
Colchicine binds slowly to tubulin, in contrast to Combretastatin A4, which binds in a relatively fast, temperature-dependent manner. The rate of Colchicine binding has a rate constant of ~102 M-1 s-1 as determined by an isotopic labeling technique [Gaarland D.L. 1978]. Hovever, colchicine dissociates from tubulin over 100 times slower than combretastatin A-4, with a half.life of 405 min at 37 °C, compared to 3.6 min of CA4 [Lin et al. 1989].
Known Feedforward/Feedback loops influencing this KER
To our knowledge, there are no feedback loops influencing this KER.
This KER has been demonstrated in multiple species including sea urchins, frogs, mice, rats, cows, and human cells in culture.