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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)

In cells lacking centrosomes, such as those found in female meiosis, chromosomes must nucleate and stabilize microtubules in order to form a bipolar spindle. Here we report the identification of Dasra A and Dasra B, two new components of the vertebrate chromosomal passenger complex containing Incenp, Survivin, and the kinase Aurora B, and demonstrate that this complex is required for chromatin-induced microtubule stabilization and spindle formation. The failure of microtubule stabilization caused by depletion of the chromosomal passenger complex was rescued by codepletion of the microtubule-depolymerizing kinesin MCAK, whose activity is negatively regulated by Aurora B. By contrast, we present evidence that the Ran-GTP pathway of chromatin-induced microtubule nucleation does not require the chromosomal passenger complex, indicating that the mechanisms of microtubule assembly by these two pathways are distinct. We propose that the chromosomal passenger complex regulates local MCAK activity to permit spindle formation via stabilization of chromatin-associated microtubules.
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PMID:The chromosomal passenger complex is required for chromatin-induced microtubule stabilization and spindle assembly. 1526 Sep 89

Although the microtubule-depolymerizing KinI motor Kif2a is abundantly expressed in neuronal cells, we now show it localizes to centrosomes and spindle poles during mitosis in cultured cells. RNAi-induced knockdown of Kif2a expression inhibited cell cycle progression because cells assembled monopolar spindles. Bipolar spindle assembly was restored in cells lacking Kif2a by treatments that altered microtubule assembly (nocodazole), eliminated kinetochore-microtubule attachment (loss of Nuf2), or stabilized microtubule plus ends at kinetochores (loss of MCAK). Thus, two KinI motors, MCAK and Kif2a, play distinct roles in mitosis, and MCAK activity at kinetochores must be balanced by Kif2a activity at poles for spindle bipolarity. These treatments failed to restore bipolarity to cells lacking the activity of the kinesin Eg5. Thus, two independent pathways contribute to spindle bipolarity, with the Eg5-dependent pathway using motor force to drive spindle bipolarity and the Kif2a-dependent pathway relying on microtubule polymer dynamics to generate force for spindle bipolarity.
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PMID:The KinI kinesin Kif2a is required for bipolar spindle assembly through a functional relationship with MCAK. 1530 53

Members of the kinesin superfamily are microtubule-based motor proteins that transport molecules/organelles along microtubules. We have identified similar internal motor kinesins, Kinesin-13A, from the cotton Gossypium hirsutum and Arabidopsis thaliana. Their motor domains share high degree of similarity with those of internal motor kinesins of animals and protists in the MCAK/Kinesin13 subfamily. However, no significant sequence similarities were detected in sequences outside the motor domain. In Arabidopsis plants carrying the T-DNA knockout kinesin-13a-1 and kinesin-13a-2 mutations at the Kinesin-13A locus, >70% leaf trichomes had four branches, whereas wild-type trichomes had three. Immunofluorescent results showed that AtKinesin-13A and GhKinesin-13A localized to entire Golgi stacks. In both wild-type and kinesin-13a mutant cells, the Golgi stacks were frequently associated with microtubules and with actin microfilaments. Aggregation/clustering of Golgi stacks was often observed in the kinesin-13a mutant trichomes and other epidermal cells. This suggested that the distribution of the Golgi apparatus in cell cortex might require microtubules and Kinesin-13A, and the organization of Golgi stacks could play a regulatory role in trichome morphogenesis. Our results also indicate that plant kinesins in the MCAK/Kinesin-13 subfamily have evolved to take on different tasks than their animal counterparts.
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PMID:An internal motor kinesin is associated with the Golgi apparatus and plays a role in trichome morphogenesis in Arabidopsis. 1557 82

MCAK, a member of the kinesin-13 family, is a microtubule (MT) depolymerase that is necessary to ensure proper kinetochore MT attachment during spindle formation. Regulation of MCAK activity and localization is controlled in part by Aurora B kinase at the centromere. Here we analyzed human cells depleted of the ubiquitous Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIgamma isoform (CaMKIIgamma) by RNA interference and found that CaMKIIgamma was necessary to suppress MCAK depolymerase activity in vivo. A functional overlap with TOGp, a MT regulator known to counteract MCAK, was suggested by similar CaMKIIgamma- and TOGp-depletion phenotypes, namely disorganized multipolar spindles. A replicating vector system, which permits inducible overexpression in cells that simultaneously synthesize interfering short hairpin RNAs, was used to dissect the functional interplay between CaMKIIgamma, TOGp, and MCAK. Our results revealed two distinct but functionally overlapping mechanisms for negative regulation of the cytosolic/centrosomal pool of MCAK. These two mechanisms, involving CaMKIIgamma and TOGp, respectively, are both essential for spindle bipolarity in a normal physiological context, but not in MCAK-depleted cells.
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PMID:CaMKIIgamma-mediated inactivation of the Kin I kinesin MCAK is essential for bipolar spindle formation. 1577 83

Microtubule (MT)-based motor proteins, kinesins and dyneins, play important roles in multiple cellular processes including cell division. In this study, we describe the generation and use of an Escherichia coli RNase III-prepared human kinesin/dynein esiRNA library to systematically analyze the functions of all human kinesin/dynein MT motor proteins. Our results indicate that at least 12 kinesins are involved in mitosis and cytokinesis. Eg5 (a member of the kinesin-5 family), Kif2A (a member of the kinesin-13 family), and KifC1 (a member of the kinesin-14 family) are crucial for spindle formation; KifC1, MCAK (a member of the kinesin-13 family), CENP-E (a member of the kinesin-7 family), Kif14 (a member of the kinesin-3 family), Kif18 (a member of the kinesin-8 family), and Kid (a member of the kinesin-10 family) are required for chromosome congression and alignment; Kif4A and Kif4B (members of the kinesin-4 family) have roles in anaphase spindle dynamics; and Kif4A, Kif4B, MKLP1, and MKLP2 (members of the kinesin-6 family) are essential for cytokinesis. Using immunofluorescence analysis, time-lapse microscopy, and rescue experiments, we investigate the roles of these 12 kinesins in detail.
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PMID:Functional analysis of human microtubule-based motor proteins, the kinesins and dyneins, in mitosis/cytokinesis using RNA interference. 1584 29

MCAK is a member of the kinesin-13 family of microtubule (MT)-depolymerizing kinesins. We show that the potent MT depolymerizer MCAK tracks (treadmills) with the tips of polymerizing MTs in living cells. Tip tracking of MCAK is inhibited by phosphorylation and is dependent on the extreme COOH-terminal tail of MCAK. Tip tracking is not essential for MCAK's MT-depolymerizing activity. We propose that tip tracking is a mechanism by which MCAK is preferentially localized to regions of the cell that modulate the plus ends of MTs.
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PMID:MCAK associates with the tips of polymerizing microtubules. 1588 93

Kar3, a Saccharomyces cerevisiae Kinesin-14, is essential for karyogamy and meiosis I but also has specific functions during vegetative growth. For its various roles, Kar3 forms a heterodimer with either Cik1 or Vik1, both of which are noncatalytic polypeptides. Here, we present the first biochemical characterization of Kar3Cik1, the kinesin motor that is essential for karyogamy. Kar3Cik1 depolymerizes microtubules from the plus end and promotes robust minus-end-directed microtubule gliding. Immunolocalization studies show that Kar3Cik1 binds preferentially to one end of the microtubule, whereas the Kar3 motor domain, in the absence of Cik1, exhibits significantly higher microtubule lattice binding. Kar3Cik1-promoted microtubule depolymerization requires ATP turnover, and the kinetics fit a single exponential function. The disassembly mechanism is not microtubule catastrophe like that induced by the MCAK Kinesin-13s. Soluble tubulin does not activate the ATPase activity of Kar3Cik1, and there is no evidence of Kar3Cik1(.)tubulin complex formation as observed for MCAK. These results reveal a novel mechanism to regulate microtubule depolymerization. We propose that Cik1 targets Kar3 to the microtubule plus end. Kar3Cik1 then uses its minus-end-directed force to depolymerize microtubules from the plus end, with each tubulin-subunit release event tightly coupled to one ATP turnover.
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PMID:Cik1 targets the minus-end kinesin depolymerase kar3 to microtubule plus ends. 1608 96

Chromosome segregation relies on the dynamic properties of spindle microtubules (MTs). Poleward MT flux contributes to spindle dynamics through the disassembly of MT minus ends at spindle poles coupled to the continuous poleward transport of spindle MTs. Despite being conserved in metazoan cells, the function of flux remains controversial because flux rates differ widely in different cell types. In meiotic systems, the rate of flux nearly matches that of chromosome movement, but in mitotic systems, flux is significantly slower than chromosome movement. Here, we show that spindles in human mitotic cells depleted of the kinesin-13 proteins Kif2a and MCAK lack detectable flux and that such cells frequently fail to segregate all chromosomes appropriately at anaphase. Elimination of flux reduces poleward chromosome velocity approximately 20%, but does not hinder bipolar spindle assembly, chromosome alignment, or mitotic progression. Thus, mitosis proceeds efficiently in human cells lacking detectable poleward MT flux. These data demonstrate that in human cultured cells, kinetochores are sufficient to effectively power chromosome movement, leading us to speculate that flux is maintained in these cells to fulfill other functional roles such as error correction or kinetochore regulation.
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PMID:Efficient mitosis in human cells lacking poleward microtubule flux. 1624 29

The LmjF01.0030 gene of Leishmania major Friedlin, annotated as 'MCAK-like', was confirmed as a kinesin with an internally located motor domain and termed LmjKIN13-1. Both the native form of the protein and a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-fused recombinant version were shown to be exclusively intranuclear, and, more specifically, to localize to the spindle and spindle poles. Cell cycle-dependent regulation of the protein levels was demonstrated using synchronized Leishmania cells: LmjKIN13-1 was highly abundant in the G2+M phase and present at very low levels after mitosis. Altogether, these features suggest that this protein participates in mitosis. The construction of systematic deletion mutants allowed the localization of the primary sequence regions responsible for nuclear targeting on the one hand, and for cell cycle-dependent variations on the other hand. A 42-amino-acid region of the carboxy(C)-terminal domain mediates nuclear import and could be defined as an atypical nuclear localization signal. Protein level regulation during the cell cycle was shown to also depend upon the C-terminal domain, where apparently redundant degradation signals are present. Putative degradation signals appear to be present on both sides and inside the nuclear localization signal. Further experiments strongly suggest a role for the ubiquitin/proteasome pathway in this cell cycle-dependent regulation. These data underline the importance of post-translational regulation of protein abundance in this ancestral eukaryote where transcriptional regulation seems to be rare or near absent.
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PMID:Cell cycle-dependent expression regulation by the proteasome pathway and characterization of the nuclear targeting signal of a Leishmania major Kin-13 kinesin. 1643 Jun 91

Traditionally, kinesins have been identified as proteins that use the energy of ATP to translocate along microtubules. However, in the last decade some kinesin-like proteins were found to destabilize microtubule ends. The kinesins that destabilize microtubules are known as "catastrophe kinesins". Analyses of a Xenopus member of the catastrophe kinesins called MCAK/XKCM1 have shown that, in fact, catastrophe kinesins are essential for controlling the distribution of microtubules by inducing their depolymerization. Therefore, unraveling the mechanisms of how microtubule destabilization promoted by these catastrophe kinesins is controlled is essential for understanding how microtubules in a cell are distributed. Here we give an overview of the studies that have focused on the global and local control of microtubule destabilization promoted by MCAK/XKCM1.
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PMID:Global and local control of microtubule destabilization promoted by a catastrophe kinesin MCAK/XKCM1. 1645 57


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