Microtubule Lattice Spacing Governs MAP-Motor Regulation

Microtubules (MTs) serve as intracellular tracks that enable molecular motors to transport cargos to specific cellular destinations. It has been proposed that the signals directing motor-driven transport are encoded on MTs through different isotypes, lattice conformations, and post- translational modifications (PTMs) of tubulin, or MT-associated proteins (MAPs) that decorate the MT surface. However, molecular predictions of these models have not been rigorously tested in vitro. Using isotypically pure recombinant tubulin and biochemical reconstitution, we examined how tubulin PTMs and MT lattice spacing influence MAP binding and kinesin-1 motility. We found that kinesin-1 is largely insensitive to tubulin PTMs but is strongly regulated by MT lattice spacing. Likewise, the MAPs tau, MAP7, MAP4, DCX, and MAP9 exhibit little sensitivity to tubulin PTMs, whereas the MT-binding affinities of tau, DCX, and MAP7 depend on lattice spacing. In the presence of activating (MAP7) and inhibitory (tau) MAPs, lattice spacing determines MAP occupancy and thereby controls kinesin-1 motility. These findings support a two-layer transport code in which MT lattice spacing directs MAP binding, and MAPs determine which motors can move along individual MT tracks.