CONTEXT

Microtubules (MTs) are essential components of the cytoskeleton. Subpopulations of MTs can be differentially marked by several highly conserved post-translational modifications (PTMs). These PTMs are particularly abundant in ciliary and flagellar axonemal MTs. Cilia and flagella are ubiquitous cellular extensions which are essential not only for motility (in protozoa, sperm, respiratory epithelia, brain ventricules…), but also for ensuring sensory functions during development and normal physiology (photoreceptors, olfactory cells, renal cells, neuronal cells…). The laboratory has focused on the biochemical characterization of tubulin and has discovered in Paramecium a polymeric modification: glycylation (published in Science 1994).

Thanks to the antibodies developed in the laboratory, AXO 49 and TAP 952, glycylation has been shown to be highly conserved over evolution, ranging from the eukaryotic single cell (protozoa) to human. This PTM occurs mostly in cell types that have cilia and flagella.