Determinants of molecular motor directionality.
Work over the past two years has led to a breakthrough in our understanding of the molecular basis of the directionality of the kinesin motor proteins. This breakthrough has come first from the reversal of directionality of the kinesin-related motor Ncd, followed closely by the reversal of kinesin's directionality and the finding that the Ncd 'neck' can convert Ncd or kinesin, which are intrinsically plus-end-directed microtubule motors, into a minus-end motor. These findings raise several outstanding questions, foremost, how does the neck function in motor directionality?
Endow
S A
SA
Department of Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA. endow@abacus.mc.duke.edu
D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D006801:Humans; D016547:Kinesins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins; C066696:ncd protein, Drosophila; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; D016547:Kinesins