Tubulin autoregulation factors recruit γ-tubulin to non-centrosomal MTOCs for neuronal microtubule nucleation.

In Caenorhabditis elegans neurons, loss of scaper, ttc5, or both reduces non-centrosomal microtubule numbers to a similar extent as depleting γ-tubulin, the main nucleator.

• Why it matters: Neuronal survival depends on stereotyped non-centrosomal microtubule arrays, but how these arrays form is not well understood.
• What they did: The authors used conditional single-cell degradation alleles and endogenous tagging to test whether scaper and ttc5 recruit γ-tubulin to non-centrosomal MTOCs, and they performed overexpression and regeneration assays; they also examined activity-dependent nucleation in rat hippocampal neurons.
• The result: scaper and ttc5 are required for γ-tubulin recruitment to non-centrosomal MTOCs, while SCAPER overexpression increases γ-tubulin at nucleation sites and raises MT density; both are dispensable for developmental axon growth but essential for regeneration and activity-dependent nucleation in rat hippocampal neurons.

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