Can tubulin be a novel target of toxicity of environmental chemicals ?

微管蛋白作为毒性靶标仅限于干扰聚合/解聚的情况下，在其他情况下微管蛋白也是一个靶标，这是意料之外的。在本研究中，我们主要关注作为毒性靶点的微管蛋白，并寻找作用于微管蛋白的化学物质。当我们检测环境化学物质对微管蛋白乙酰化和泛素化的影响时，我们发现化学物质抑制微管蛋白泛素化。微管蛋白的寿命延长伴随着泛素化的抑制会导致细胞毒性，这就提出了某些环境化学物质作用于微管蛋白并产生毒性的可能性。

Tubulin as a target of toxicity was limited to the case of disturbance of polimerization/depolymerization, and it was not expected that tubulin is a target in other cases. In the present study, we focused on tubulin as a target of toxicity and searched chemicals acting on tubulin. When we examined the effects of environmental chemicals on acetylation and ubiquitination of tubulin, we found chemicals inhibiting tubulin ubiquitination. Life extention of tubulin accompanied with the inhibition of ubiquitination will lead to cytotoxicity, and it raises the possibility that some kinds of environmental chemicals acts on tubulin and exerts the toxicity.