Counting motors by force.
Properties of the microtubule motor protein kinesin-1 have been well characterized in vitro but not in the viscous environment of a cell. By measuring the force that kinesin-1 exerts on lipid droplets in fly embryos, Shubeita et al. (2008) determine the number of active motors per droplet and find unexpected differences between motor regulation in vivo and in vitro.
St Johnston
Daniel
D
The Gurdon Institute and the Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB21QN, UK. ds139@cam.ac.uk
D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D004330:Drosophila / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016547:Kinesins / Q000378:metabolism; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C515209:Khc protein, Drosophila; D016547:Kinesins