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Letter

Nature Chemical Biology 3, 722–726 (1 November 2007) | doi:10.1038/nchembio.2007.34

ATP-competitive inhibitors of the mitotic kinesin KSP that function via an allosteric mechanism

Lusong Luo , Cynthia A Parrish , Neysa Nevins , Dean E McNulty , Amita M Chaudhari , Jeffery D Carson , Valery Sudakin , Antony N Shaw , Ruth Lehr , Huizhen Zhao , Sharon Sweitzer , Latesh Lad , Kenneth W Wood , Roman Sakowicz , Roland S Annan , Pearl S Huang , Jeffrey R Jackson , Dashyant Dhanak , Robert A Copeland & Kurt R Auger

The mitotic kinesin KSP (kinesin spindle protein, or Eg5) has an essential role in centrosome separation and formation of the bipolar mitotic spindle. Its exclusive involvement in the mitotic spindle of proliferating cells presents an opportunity for developing new anticancer agents with reduced side effects relative to antimitotics that target tubulin.