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A kinesin mimics DNA

Nature Cell Biology volume 24, pages 1015–1016 (2022)Cite this article

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Primary cilia transduce cues, including Hedgehog (Hh) signals, and possess doublet microtubules that interact with kinesin motors. The kinesin KIF7 is important for Hh signalling and binds to GLI transcription factors. Haque et al. reveal that, surprisingly, GLI proteins bind a DNA-like part of KIF7 to promote their accumulation at the ciliary tip.

Hedgehog (Hh) signalling patterns tissues such as the neural tube and limb buds during development, and when mis-activated causes cancers such as medulloblastoma. Similar to photons and odorants, vertebrate Hh signals are transduced via cilia, microtubule-based organelles possessed by most cells1. In this issue, Haque et al.2 reveal how a kinesin mimics DNA to bind a transcription factor effector of the Hh signalling pathway at the tips of cilia.

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Fig. 1: Role of the kinesin KIF7 in Hh signal transduction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Dhivya Kumar & Jeremy F. Reiter

  2. Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Jeremy F. Reiter

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  1. Dhivya Kumar
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  2. Jeremy F. Reiter
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Correspondence to Jeremy F. Reiter.

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Kumar, D., Reiter, J.F. A kinesin mimics DNA. Nat Cell Biol 24, 1015–1016 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-022-00958-0

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