Structural convergence for tubulin binding of CPAP and vinca domain microtubule inhibitors

Microtubule dynamics is regulated by various cellular proteins and perturbed by small-molecule compounds. To what extent the mechanism of the former resembles that of the latter is an open question. We report here structures of tubulin bound to the PN2-3 domain of CPAP, a protein controlling the length of the centrioles. We show that an alpha-helix of the PN2-3 N-terminal region binds and caps the longitudinal surface of the tubulin beta subunit. Moreover, a PN2-3 N-terminal stretch lies in a beta-tubulin site also targeted by fungal and bacterial peptide-like inhibitors of the vinca domain, sharing a very similar binding mode with these compounds. Therefore, our results identify several characteristic features of cellular partners that bind to this site and highlight a structural convergence of CPAP with small-molecule inhibitors of microtubule assembly.