Kinesin

Autoinhibition ensures the proper spatiotemporal control of the kinesin-3 motor activity. Here, the authors present the full-length structure of kinesin-3 KLP-6 in an autoinhibited state and observe that all the internal domains entwine around the motor domain via a multilevel-lockdown mechanism.

Homeostasis and function of neurons rely on long-distance, bidirectional microtubule-based transport along the axon, which is driven by both dynein and kinesin motors. How these motors are regulated by a plethora of adaptors and effectors to ensure appropriate and robust distribution of cargos is an area of intense study.

Here, authors solve cryo-EM structures of the central apparatus of motile cilia and analyze its dynamic conformations to elucidate the mechanism of ciliary beating.

Herpes simplex virus type I and pseudorabies virus assimilate kinesin from host epithelial cells and repurpose the motor to traffic to the nuclei of neurons in the peripheral nervous system.

KIF14 is a mitotic kinesin whose malfunction is associated with cerebral and renal developmental defects and several cancers. Here the authors use cryoEM to determine 20 structures of KIF14 constructs bound to microtubules in the presence of different nucleotide analogues and provide the structural basis for a coordinated chemo-mechanical kinesin translocation model.

Monitoring the activity of the processive motor protein kinesin-1 in live cells is currently difficult. Here the authors report the fluorogenic small molecule QPD-OTf, a kinesin-1 substrate that causes activity-dependent dye precipitation.