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)

During the first cell cycle, the vegetal cortex of the fertilized frog egg is translocated over the cytoplasm. This process of cortical rotation creates regional cytoplasmic differences important in later development, and appears to involve an array of aligned microtubules that forms transiently beneath the vegetal cortex. We have investigated how these microtubules might be involved in generating movement by analyzing isolated cortices and sections of Xenopus laevis and Rana pipiens eggs. First, the polarity of the cortical microtubules was determined using the "hook" assay. Almost all microtubules had their plus ends pointing in the direction of cortical rotation. Secondly, the association of microtubules with other cytoplasmic elements was examined. Immunofluorescence revealed that cytokeratin filaments coalign with the microtubules. The timing of their appearance and their position on the cytoplasmic side of the microtubules suggested that they are not involved directly in generating movement. ER was visualized with the dye DiIC16(3) and by immunofluorescence with anti-BiP (Bole, D. G., L. M. Hendershot, and J. F. Kearney, 1986. J. Cell Biol. 102:1558-1566). One layer of ER was found closely underlying the plasma membrane at all times. An additional, deeper layer formed in association with the microtubules of the array. Antibodies to sea urchin kinesin (Ingold, A. L., S. A. Cohn, and J. M. Scholey. 1988. J. Cell Biol. 107:2657-2667) detected antigens associated with both the ER and microtubules. On immunoblots they recognized microtubule associated polypeptide(s) of approximately 115 kD from Xenopus eggs. These observations are consistent with a role for kinesin in creating movement between the microtubules and ER, which leads in turn to the cortical rotation.
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PMID:Evidence for the involvement of microtubules, ER, and kinesin in the cortical rotation of fertilized frog eggs. 171 12

Sixteen clones, recently isolated from the PC12 nerve cell line, were analysed for a variety of markers and activities. Two endoplasmic reticulum (ER) luminal markers, the chaperone protein BiP and the major Ca2+ storage protein calreticulin, as well as the 40-kD rough ER membrane marker and the plus-end-directed mirotubule motor protein, kinesin, were found to be expressed at similar levels. These results suggest that the size of the ER, the function of microtubules and the capacity of the rapidly exchanging Ca2+ store do not change substantially among the clones. Other proteins expressed at comparable levels were synapsin I and IIa, members of a nerve cell-specific protein family known to bind synaptic vesicles to the cytoskeleton. In contrast, another ER membrane protein, calnexin, and the markers of secretory organelles were found to vary markedly. One clone (clone 27) completely lacked both chromogranin B and secretogranin II, the proteins contained within dense granules, and synaptophysin, a marker of clear vesicles. Other clones expressed these markers to variable and apparently mutually unrelated levels. Marked variability was observed also in the uptake of exogenous catecholamines, in their release both at rest and after stimulation, and in nerve growth factor-induced differentiation. These results provide indirect information about the mechanisms that regulate the expression of structures and activities in PC12 cells. Of particular interest is clone 27, which appears globally incompetent for regulated secretion and might therefore be a valuable tool for the study of this activity in a nerve cell.
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PMID:Differential Expression of Markers and Activities in a Group of PC12 Nerve Cell Clones. 1210 30

Cotranslational translocation of polypeptides into the ER is controlled by the dynamic interaction of ribosome and translocon components. Analysis of the steps involved in this process by high resolution techniques such as gel electrophoresis is precluded by the high molecular masses of these complexes. We show, here, that modifications to standard native electrophoresis protocols can overcome these problems and lead to an increase in mass range and resolution. Using the modified technique, we show that ER ribosome anchored membrane protein (RAMP) complexes resolve into 3 stable and semistable complexes which range in size between 4 and 8 MDa and are sensitive to relevant concentrations of divalent metals. We demonstrate the molecular composition of the complexes and identify a number of modular components that differentiate them. The components that are common to all three RAMP complexes include the OST translocon subcomplex, Glucosidase I and microtubule tethering protein CLIMP63. The two larger complexes further include the kinesin motor binding protein p180 and Sec61, and the largest complex includes the TRAP translocon component and apoptotic regulator BAP31. On the lumenal side, the BiP cochaperone ERdj3 resides with the three RAMP complexes. Our observations may hint at how subcompartmentalization is achieved in the ER membrane continuum.
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PMID:Organization of the Sec61 translocon, studied by high resolution native electrophoresis. 2011 77