@article{201566,
  author = {Venecia Valdez and Meisheng Ma and Bernardo Gouveia and Rui Zhang and Sabine Petry},
  title = {HURP facilitates spindle assembly by stabilizing microtubules and working synergistically with TPX2.},
  abstract = {<p>In vertebrate spindles, most microtubules are formed via branching microtubule nucleation, whereby microtubules nucleate along the side of pre-existing microtubules. Hepatoma up-regulated protein (HURP) is a microtubule-associated protein that has been implicated in spindle assembly, but its mode of action is yet to be defined. In this study, we show that HURP is necessary for RanGTP-induced branching microtubule nucleation in Xenopus egg extract. Specifically, HURP stabilizes the microtubule lattice to promote microtubule formation from γ-TuRC. This function is shifted to promote branching microtubule nucleation\&nbsp;through enhanced localization to TPX2 condensates, which form the core of the branch site on microtubules. Lastly, we provide a\&nbsp;high-resolution cryo-EM\&nbsp;structure of HURP on the microtubule, revealing how HURP binding stabilizes the microtubule lattice. We propose a model in which HURP stabilizes microtubules during their formation, and TPX2 preferentially enriches HURP to microtubules to promote branching microtubule nucleation and thus spindle assembly.</p>},
  year = {2024},
  journal = {Nature communications},
  volume = {15},
  pages = {9689},
  month = {11/2024},
  issn = {2041-1723},
  doi = {10.1038/s41467-024-53630-6},
  language = {eng},
}