High impact information on kinesin

• Unc104 (KIF1A) kinesin transports membrane vesicles along microtubules in lower and higher eukaryotes [1].
• unc-104 encodes a novel kinesin paralog that may act as a microtubule-based motor in the nervous system [2].
• C. elegans contains a microtubule binding protein that resembles both dynein and kinesin [3].
• This property is kinesin-like; however, the motility is blocked by 5 microM vanadate, 1 mM N-ethyl maleimide, 0.5 mM ATP-gamma-S, or by ATP-vanadate-UV cleavage of the 400 kd polypeptide, characteristics that differ from kinesin [3].
• Here we show that the Caenorhabditis elegans kinesin-related protein VAB-8L, which is necessary and sufficient for posterior cell and growth-cone migrations, directs these migrations by regulating the levels of the guidance receptor SAX-3 (also known as robo) [4].

Biological context of kinesin

• Moreover, AWC-specific chemotaxis assays reveal novel sensory functions for kinesin II in these wing cilia [5].
• This cytokinesis failure likely results from an anaphase spindle defect in which interzonal microtubule bundles that recruit Aurora B kinase and the kinesin, ZEN-4, fail to form between the separating chromosomes [6].
• Furthermore, mutations in UNC-104, a neuronal-specific kinesin, and SNB-1, a synaptic vesicle-associated protein termed synaptobrevin, exhibit similar convulsion phenotypes following chemical induction [7].
• Dynamin localization was not affected by disrupting axonal transport of synaptic vesicles in the unc-104 (kinesin) mutant [8].
• We also show that the conserved kinesin CeMCAK, the CENP-F-related proteins HCP-1 and HCP-2, and the core kinetochore protein CeCENP-C all are required for this checkpoint [9].

Anatomical context of kinesin

• Using the cho-1 promoter to drive expression of a translational, green fluorescent protein-CHO-1 fusion (CHO-1:GFP) in wild-type and kinesin (unc-104) mutant backgrounds, we establish in the living nematode that the transporter localizes to cholinergic synapses, and likely traffics on synaptic vesicles [10].
• We previously described a kinesin-dependent movement of particles in the flagella of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii called intraflagellar transport (IFT) (Kozminski, K.G., K.A. Johnson, P. Forscher, and J.L. Rosenbaum. 1993. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 90:5519-5523) [11].
• Furthermore, to understand whether JNK signaling is involved in kinesin-mediated JSAP1 trafficking, we established stable PC12h cell lines that expressed wild-type JSAP1 or its mutant lacking the JNK-binding domain (JBD) [12].
• Dense core vesicle dynamics in Caenorhabditis elegans neurons and the role of kinesin UNC-104 [13].
• Proteins such as UNC-76 that associate with kinesin motors are important in directing neurite extension [14].

Associations of kinesin with chemical compounds

• Presynaptic localization of this clustering activity requires the neuronal kinesin UNC-104, suggesting that release of GABA from synaptic vesicles may represent the clustering signal [15].

Other interactions of kinesin

• Although the primary sequence relatedness to kinesin is weak in the remainder of the molecule, the predicted secondary structure and regional isoelectric points are similar to kinesin heavy chain [16].
• A Caenorhabditis elegans cDNA clone corresponding to the klp-3 gene, encoding a novel kinesin, was isolated, and mapped on LGII [17].
• vab-8 is a key regulator of posteriorly directed migrations in C. elegans and encodes a novel protein with kinesin motor similarity [18].
• We propose that kinesin II is a "canonical" IFT motor, whereas OSM-3 is an "accessory" IFT motor, and that subtle changes in the deployment or actions of these IFT kinesins can contribute to differences in cilia morphology, cilia function, and sensory perception [5].
• The BBS proteins BBS-7 and BBS-8 are required to stabilize complexes of IFT particles containing both of the IFT motors, because IFT particles in bbs-7 and bbs-8 mutants break down into two subcomplexes, IFT-A and IFT-B, which are moved separately by kinesin-II and OSM-3 kinesin, respectively [19].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of kinesin

• Our sequence analysis of the encoded KLP-11 shows that it shares high homology with the OSM-3 kinesin [20].

References