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Reversing the kinesin ratchet — a diverting tail

Nature volume 389, pages 15–16 (1997)Cite this article

Kinesins are molecular motors that are mechanically programmed to move along microtubules in one direction only — towards either the rapidly growing plus ends or the more static minus ends. A remarkable new experiment reverses the directionality using protein engineering.

The kinesins are a family of motor proteins that haul cellular cargo along microtubules in a stepwise fashion. Microtubules have an intrinsic polarity, with so-called ‘plus’ and ‘minus’ ends, and microtubule-binding motor proteins ‘read’ this polarity, and then move towards one end or the other. By laying down an organized array of microtubules and then attaching cellular components to an appropriately directed motor, the cell can sort and segregate its components relative to the polarized array of microtubules: this kind of process is responsible for events such as the spatial separation of two sets of chromosomes at cell division.

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Figure 1: Tail-induced directional bias.

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  1. Molecular Motors Group, Marie Curie Research Institute, The Chart, Oxted, RH8 OTE, Surrey, UK

    R. A. Cross

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  1. R. A. Cross
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Cross, R. Reversing the kinesin ratchet — a diverting tail. Nature 389, 15–16 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/37864

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