Here, we describe a protocol to extract endogenous tubulin from mammalian cells, which can lack or contain specific microtubule-modifying enzymes, to obtain microtubules enriched for a specific modification. We then describe how the extracted microtubules can be decorated with purified microtubule-binding proteins to prepare grids for cryo-electron microscopy.
Bak, J., Landskron, L., Brummelkamp, T. R., Perrakis, A. Extracting Modified Microtubules from Mammalian Cells to Study Microtubule-Protein Complexes by Cryo-Electron Microscopy. J. Vis. Exp. (193), e65126, doi:10.3791/65126 (2023).