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

Animal- and human-made motors vary widely in size and shape, are constructed of vastly different materials, use different mechanisms, and produce an enormous range of mass-specific power. Despite these differences, there is remarkable consistency in the maximum net force produced by broad classes of animal- and human-made motors. Motors that use force production to accomplish steady translational motion of a load (myosin, kinesin, dynein, and RNA polymerase molecules, muscle cells, whole muscles, winches, linear actuators, and rockets) have maximal force outputs that scale as the two-thirds power of mass, i.e., with cross-sectional area. Motors that use cyclical motion to generate force and are more subject to multiaxial stress and vibration have maximal force outputs that scale as a single isometric function of motor mass with mass-specific net force output averaging 57 N x kg(-1) (SD = 14). Examples of this class of motors includes flying birds, bats, and insects, swimming fish, various taxa of running animals, piston engines, electric motors, and all types of jets. Dependence of force production and stress resistance on cross-sectional area is well known, but the isometric scaling and common upper limit of mass-specific force production by cyclical motion motors has not been recognized previously and is not explained by an existing body of theory. Remarkably, this finding indicates that most of the motors used by humans and animals for transportation have a common upper limit of mass-specific net force output that is independent of materials and mechanisms.
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PMID:Molecules, muscles, and machines: universal performance characteristics of motors. 1191 97

The novel oncogene KIF14 (kinesin family member 14) shows genomic gain and overexpression in many cancers including OvCa (ovarian cancer). We discovered that expression of the mitotic kinesin KIF14 is predictive of poor outcome in breast and lung cancers. We now determine the prognostic significance of KIF14 expression in primary OvCa tumors, and evaluate KIF14 action on OvCa cell tumorigenicity in vitro. Gene-specific multiplex PCR and real-time QPCR were used to measure KIF14 genomic (109 samples) and mRNA levels (122 samples) in OvCa tumors. Association of KIF14 with clinical variables was studied using Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox regression analyses. Cellular effects of KIF14 overexpression (stable transfection) and inhibition (stable shRNA knockdown) were studied by proliferation (cell counts), survival (Annexin V immunocytochemistry) and colony formation (soft-agar growth). KIF14 genomic gain (>2.6 copies) was present in 30% of serous OvCas, and KIF14 mRNA was elevated in 91% of tumors versus normal epithelium. High KIF14 in tumors independently predicted for worse outcome (p = 0.03) with loss of correlation with proliferation marker expression and increased rates of recurrence. Overexpression of KIF14 in OvCa cell lines increased proliferation and colony formation (p < 0.01), whereas KIF14 knockdown induced apoptosis and dramatically reduced colony formation (p < 0.05). Our findings indicate that KIF14 mRNA is an independent prognostic marker in serous OvCa. Dependence of OvCa cells on KIF14 for maintenance of in vitro colony formation suggests a role of KIF14 in promoting a tumorigenic phenotype, beyond its known role in proliferation.
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PMID:Kinesin family member 14: an independent prognostic marker and potential therapeutic target for ovarian cancer. 2161 18