title: Kinesin's moonwalk.
abstract: Kinesin-1 is a single-molecule walking machine, driven by ATP turnover. Recent optical trapping experiments show that pulling backwards on a walking kinesin-1 molecule causes the mechanical walking action to reverse, while the coupled chemical cycle of ATP turnover continues, apparently, to run forwards -- kinesin can moonwalk. Individual forward- and back-steps are fast, and each appears to be a single event, complete in a few tens of microseconds, with no substeps. Between steps, kinesin pauses, waiting for the next ATP to arrive. Several lines of evidence indicate that during these between-step dwells, only one of the two heads is strongly attached to the microtubule. The position of the other head during the dwells is less certain, and more controversial.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Motors Group, Marie Curie Research Institute, The Chart, Oxted, Surrey, RH8 0TE UK.
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Cross
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000737:chemistry; D016547:Kinesins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009068:Movement; D011487:Protein Conformation; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D016547:Kinesins