Publication Date

8-1983

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Frank Toman, Larry Elliott, Martin Houston

Degree Program

Department of Biology

Degree Type

Master of Science

Abstract

Microtubules, isolated from bovine brain, were used to study the effect of ultraviolet radiation on the tubulin-3H-colchicine complex and the polymerizing ability of this complex to intact and disrupted microtubules. Dissociation of this complex was observed upon ultraviolet irradiation and continued to progress as exposure time increased. The binding of this complex to intact microtubules prior to irradiation did not seem to enhance its stability to ultraviolet radiation. There was a significant difference observed at the 0.05 level between the binding of the tubulin-3H-colchicine complex to microtubules in mechanically disrupted and control samples. Statistically, there was no significant difference observed between the binding of tubulin-3H-colchicine complex to microtubules in sonicated and control samples. A slight difference in the electrophoretic mobilities of the alpha and beta tubulins was observed upon electrophoresis of bovine brain microtubule preparations. Various microtubule preparations exhibited different binding levels to 3H-colchicine depending on their degrees of purity. The purer samples exhibited higher binding levels than the less pure samples.

Disciplines

Animal Sciences | Biology | Life Sciences

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