Letter abstract
Nature Cell Biology 5, 1079 - 1082 (2003)
Published online: 23 November 2003 | doi:10.1038/ncb1067
Alternate fast and slow stepping of a heterodimeric kinesin molecule
Kuniyoshi Kaseda1,2, Hideo Higuchi3 & Keiko Hirose1
A conventional kinesin molecule travels continuously along a microtubule in discrete 8-nm steps. This processive movement is generally explained by models in which the two identical heads of a kinesin move in a 'hand-over-hand' manner1, 2, 3, 4. Here, we show that a single heterodimeric kinesin molecule (in which one of the two heads is mutated in a nucleotide-binding site) exhibits fast and slow (with the dwell time at least 10 times longer than that of the fast step) 8-nm steps alternately, presumably corresponding to the displacement by the wild-type and mutant heads, respectively. Our results provide the first direct evidence for models in which the roles of the two heads alternate every 8-nm step.
- Gene Function Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8562, Japan.
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8562, Japan.
- Department of Metallurgy, Graduate School of Engineering and Center for Interdisciplinary Research, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan.
Correspondence to: Keiko Hirose1 e-mail: k.hirose@aist.go.jp
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