Determinants of kinesin motor polarity.
The kinesin motor protein family members move along microtubules with characteristic polarity. Chimeric motors containing the stalk and neck of the minus-end-directed motor, Ncd, fused to the motor domain of plus-end-directed kinesin were analyzed. The Ncd stalk and neck reversed kinesin motor polarity, but mutation of the Ncd neck reverted the chimeric motor to plus-end movement. Thus, residues or regions contributing to motor polarity must be present in both the Ncd neck and the kinesin motor core. The neck-motor junction was critical for Ncd minus-end movement; attachment of the neck to the stalk may also play a role.
Department of Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. endow@galactose.mc.duke.edu
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D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D016547:Kinesins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C066696:ncd protein, Drosophila; D016547:Kinesins