Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.6.4.4 (kinesin)
5,033 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Ca(2+)-calmodulin (CaM) function was selectively disrupted in a specific subset of growth cones in transgenic Drosophila embryos in which a specific enhancer element drives the expression of the kinesin motor domain fused to a CaM antagonist peptide (kinesin-antagonist or KA, which blocks CaM binding to target proteins) or CaM itself (kinesin-CaM or KC, which acts as a Ca(2+)-binding protein). In both KA and KC mutant embryos, specific growth cones exhibit dosage-dependent stalls in axon extension and errors in axon guidance, including both defects in fasciculation and abnormal crossings of the midline. These results demonstrate an in vivo function for Ca(2+)-CaM signaling in growth cone extension and guidance and suggest that Ca(2+)-CaM may in part regulate specific growth cone decisions, including when to defasciculate and whether or not to cross the midline.
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PMID:Targeted disruption of Ca(2+)-calmodulin signaling in Drosophila growth cones leads to stalls in axon extension and errors in axon guidance. 782 40

The N-terminal residues of the two heavy chains of the motor enzyme kinesin form two globular "heads"; the heads are attached to a "rod" domain which is a two-stranded alpha-helical coiled-coil. Interaction between the heads is thought to be important to kinesin function. The rod may not be necessary for head-head interactions because a heavy chain N-terminal fragment containing only residues from the head and adjacent region forms dimers (Huang, T.-G., Suhan, J., and Hackney, D. D. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 16502-16507). However, the nature and stability of the subunit-subunit interactions in such derivatives are unclear. To examine the physical properties of heavy chain interaction in and near the head domains, we characterized the self-association behavior of two dimeric kinesin derivatives predicted (Lupas, A., van Dyke, M., and Stock, J. (1991) Science 252, 1162-1164) to lack the rod. Derivative K448-BIO contains the 448 N-terminal residues of Drosophila kinesin heavy chain fused at the C terminus to a 2-residue linker and a C-terminal fragment from Escherichia coli biotin carboxyl carrier protein; derivative K448-L is the same except that it lacks the biotin carboxyl carrier protein fragment. Both derivatives expressed in insect cells display microtubule-stimulated ATPase activity; K448-BIO also displays microtubule motility. Equilibrium sedimentation and gel filtration indicate that purified K448-BIO and K448-L at 0.02-0.4 mg/ml form homogeneous solutions of homodimers with no detectable formation of monomers or higher order oligomers. Derivative self-association is non-covalent but extremely stable with an association constant > or = 2 x 10(8) M-1. Stable subunit-subunit association induced by structures in and near the kinesin heads may be necessary for full mechanochemical function.
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PMID:Subunit interactions in dimeric kinesin heavy chain derivatives that lack the kinesin rod. 787 39

We have investigated the kinetic properties of the slow plus end directed microtubule (MT) motor Eg5. The recombinantly expressed fusion protein E437GST, containing residues 12-437 of Eg5 fused to the N-terminus of glutathione S-transferase (GST), is dimeric and motile, translocating MTs at an average speed of 0.063 (+/-0.01) micrometers(-1). The kinetics of ATP turnover by E437GST were investigated using the fluorescent ATP analogue methylanthraniloyl-ATP (mantATP). In the absence of MTs, mantADP release from E437GST is slow (0.006 s(-1) in 50 mM NaCl) and rate-limiting. MTs accelerate this kinetic step approximately 850-fold to a maximal rate of 4.94 s(-1). Under these conditions, the steady-state rate of mantATP turnover was 1.92 s(-1), indicating that MT-activated mantADP release accounts for at least 40% of the total cycle time of the motor and is probably rate-limiting. This step is around 10-fold slower in Eg5 than in kinesin, consistent with it limiting the rate of physical stepping in both Eg5 and kinesin. The dissociation constants of the motor in the presence of various nucleotides were determined using MT pelleting assays. ADP stabilizes the weakest bound state of the motor, while ATP, ATP gamma S, AMPPNP, and apyrase all induce a shift toward tighter binding states. Overall, the data indicate that Eg5 displays strong kinetic homologies with the two other well-characterized MT motors, kinesin and non claret disjunctional, suggesting that all kinesin superfamily motors may share the same basic mechanochemistry.
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PMID:Kinetics and motility of the Eg5 microtubule motor. 865 78

Plant B-type cyclin genes are expressed late in the G2 and M phases of the cell cycle. Previously, we showed that the promoter of a Catharanthus roseus B-type cyclin, CYM, could direct M phase-specific transcription of a beta-glucuronidase reporter gene in synchronously dividing BY2 tobacco cells. In this study, we determined the regulatory elements contained within the CYM promoter by using a luciferase reporter gene. Mutational analysis showed that a 9-bp element is essential for M phase-specific promoter activity in synchronized BY2 cells. The CYM promoter contains three other sequences similar to this element. A gain-of-function assay demonstrated that when fused to a heterologous promoter, these elements are sufficient for M phase-specific expression; therefore, we named these elements M-specific activators (MSAs). We found MSA-like sequences in B-type cyclin promoters from tobacco, soybean, and Arabidopsis as well as in the promoters of two M phase-specific genes, NACK1 and NACK2, which encode tobacco kinesin-like proteins. Thus, MSA may be a common cis-acting promoter element that controls M phase-specific expression of cell cycle-related genes in plants.
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PMID:A novel cis-acting element in promoters of plant B-type cyclin genes activates M phase-specific transcription. 950 Nov 8

Kinesin is a dimeric motor protein that can move along a microtubule for several microns without releasing (termed processive movement). The two motor domains of the dimer are thought to move in a coordinated, hand-over-hand manner. A region adjacent to kinesin's motor catalytic domain (the neck) contains a coiled coil that is sufficient for motor dimerization and has been proposed to play an essential role in processive movement. Recent models have suggested that the neck enables head-to-head communication by creating a stiff connection between the two motor domains, but also may unwind during the mechanochemical cycle to allow movement to new tubulin binding sites. To test these ideas, we mutated the neck coiled coil in a 560-amino acid (aa) dimeric kinesin construct fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP), and then assayed processivity using a fluorescence microscope that can visualize single kinesin-GFP molecules moving along a microtubule. Our results show that replacing the kinesin neck coiled coil with a 28-aa residue peptide sequence that forms a highly stable coiled coil does not greatly reduce the processivity of the motor. This result argues against models in which extensive unwinding of the coiled coil is essential for movement. Furthermore, we show that deleting the neck coiled coil decreases processivity 10-fold, but surprisingly does not abolish it. We also demonstrate that processivity is increased by threefold when the neck helix is elongated by seven residues. These results indicate that structural features of the neck coiled coil, although not essential for processivity, can tune the efficiency of single molecule motility.
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PMID:Role of the kinesin neck region in processive microtubule-based motility. 950 73

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.
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PMID:Determinants of kinesin motor polarity. 971 86

Caenorhabditis elegans dynamin is expressed at high levels in neurons and at lower levels in other cell types, consistent with the important role that dynamin plays in the recycling of synaptic vesicles. Indirect immunofluorescence showed that dynamin is concentrated along the dorsal and ventral nerve cords and in the synapse-rich nerve ring. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) fused to the N terminus of dynamin is localized to synapse-rich regions. Furthermore, this chimera was detected along the apical membrane of intestinal cells, in spermathecae, and in coelomocytes. Dynamin localization was not affected by disrupting axonal transport of synaptic vesicles in the unc-104 (kinesin) mutant. To investigate the alternative mechanisms that dynamin might use for translocation to the synapse, we systematically tested the localization of different protein domains by fusion to GFP. Localization of each chimera was measured in one specific neuron, the ALM. The GTPase, a middle domain, and the putative coiled coil each contribute to synaptic localization. Surprisingly, the pleckstrin homology domain and the proline-rich domain, which are known to bind to coated-pit constituents, did not contribute to synaptic localization. The GFP-GTPase chimera was most strongly localized, although the GTPase domain has no known interactions with proteins other than with dynamin itself. Our results suggest that different dynamin domains contribute to axonal transport and the sequestration of a pool of dynamin molecules in synaptic cytosol.
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PMID:Contribution of the GTPase domain to the subcellular localization of dynamin in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. 980 8

Melanophores move pigment organelles (melanosomes) from the cell center to the periphery and vice-versa. These bidirectional movements require cytoplasmic microtubules and microfilaments and depend on the function of microtubule motors and a myosin. Earlier we found that melanosomes purified from Xenopus melanophores contain the plus end microtubule motor kinesin II, indicating that it may be involved in dispersion (Rogers, S.L., I.S. Tint, P.C. Fanapour, and V.I. Gelfand. 1997. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 94: 3720-3725). Here, we generated a dominant-negative construct encoding green fluorescent protein fused to the stalk-tail region of Xenopus kinesin-like protein 3 (Xklp3), the 95-kD motor subunit of Xenopus kinesin II, and introduced it into melanophores. Overexpression of the fusion protein inhibited pigment dispersion but had no effect on aggregation. To control for the specificity of this effect, we studied the kinesin-dependent movement of lysosomes. Neither dispersion of lysosomes in acidic conditions nor their clustering under alkaline conditions was affected by the mutant Xklp3. Furthermore, microinjection of melanophores with SUK4, a function-blocking kinesin antibody, inhibited dispersion of lysosomes but had no effect on melanosome transport. We conclude that melanosome dispersion is powered by kinesin II and not by conventional kinesin. This paper demonstrates that kinesin II moves membrane-bound organelles.
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PMID:Heterotrimeric kinesin II is the microtubule motor protein responsible for pigment dispersion in Xenopus melanophores. 985 50

We have developed microtubule binding and motility assays for Cin8p, a kinesin-related mitotic spindle motor protein from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The methods examine Cin8p rapidly purified from crude yeast cell extracts. We created a recombinant form of CIN8 that fused the biotin carrying polypeptide from yeast pyruvate carboxylase to the carboxyl terminus of Cin8p. This form was biotinated in yeast cells and provided Cin8p activity in vivo. Avidin-coated glass surfaces were used to specifically bind biotinated Cin8p from crude extracts. Microtubules bound to the Cin8p-coated surfaces and moved at 3.4 +/- 0.5 micrometer/min in the presence of ATP. Force production by Cin8p was directed toward the plus ends of microtubules. A mutation affecting the microtubule-binding site within the motor domain (cin8-F467A) decreased Cin8p's ability to bind microtubules to the glass surface by >10-fold, but reduced gliding velocity by only 35%. The cin8-3 mutant form, affecting the alpha2 helix of the motor domain, caused a moderate defect in microtubule binding, but motility was severely affected. cin8-F467A cells, but not cin8-3 cells, were greatly impaired in bipolar spindle forming ability. We conclude that microtubule binding by Cin8p is more important than motility for proper spindle formation.
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PMID:Motile properties of the kinesin-related Cin8p spindle motor extracted from Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. 1009 42

Conventional kinesin is capable of long-range, processive movement along microtubules, a property that has been assumed to be important for its role in membrane transport. Here we have investigated whether the Caenorhabditis elegans monomeric kinesin unc104 and the sea urchin heteromeric kinesin KRP85/95, two other members of the kinesin superfamily that function in membrane transport, are also processive. Both motors were fused to green fluorescent protein, and the fusion proteins were tested for processive ability using a single-molecule fluorescence imaging microscope. Neither unc104-GFP nor KRP85/95-GFP exhibited processive movement (detection limit approximately 40 nm), although both motors were functional in multiple motor microtubule gliding assays (v = 1760 +/- 540 and 202 +/- 37 nm/s, respectively). Moreover, the ATP turnover rates (5.5 and 3.1 ATPs per motor domain per second, respectively) are too low to give rise to the observed microtubule gliding velocities, if only a single motor were driving transport with an 8 nm step per ATPase cycle. Instead, the results suggest that these motors have low duty cycles and that high processivity may not be required for efficient vesicle transport. Conventional kinesin's unusual processivity may be required for efficient transport of protein complexes that cannot carry multiple motors.
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PMID:Single-molecule behavior of monomeric and heteromeric kinesins. 1022 Mar 28


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