spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online September 20, 2006
doi: 10.1242/10.1242/jcs.03224

Journal of Cell Science 119, 3905-3913 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Moores, C. A.
Right arrow Articles by Milligan, R. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Moores, C. A.
Right arrow Articles by Milligan, R. A.

Commentary

Lucky 13 - microtubule depolymerisation by kinesin-13 motors

Carolyn A. Moores1 and Ronald A. Milligan2

1 School of Crystallography, Birkbeck College, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK
2 Department of Cell Biology, CB227, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA

e-mail: c.moores{at}mail.cryst.bbk.ac.uk; milligan{at}scripps.edu

Accepted 21 August 2006

The kinesin-13 class of motors catalyses microtubule depolymerisation by bending tubulins at microtubule ends. Depolymerisation activity is intrinsic to the kinesin-13 motor core but the activity of the core alone is very low compared with that of constructs that also contain a conserved neck sequence. The full-length dimeric motor is an efficient depolymeriser and also diffuses along the microtubule lattice, which helps it to find microtubule ends. Current evidence supports the idea of a generic mechanism for kinesin-13-catalysed depolymerisation. However, the activity of kinesin-13 motors is precisely localised and regulated in vivo to enable a wide range of cellular roles. The proteins are involved in global control of microtubule dynamics. They also localise to mitotic and meiotic spindles, where they contribute to formation and maintenance of spindle bipolarity, chromosomal congression, attachment correction and chromatid separation. In interphase cells, intricate and subtle mechanisms appear to allow kinesin-13 motors to act on specific populations of microtubules. Such carefully controlled localisation and regulation makes these kinesins efficient, multi-tasking molecular motors.

Key words: Kinesin-13, Microtubule, Depolymerisation, MCAK, Cell division




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Cell Sci.Home page
A. Forer
The diversity of cytoplasmic microtubules
J. Cell Sci., January 1, 2008; 121(1): 7 - 9.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Eukaryot CellHome page
S. C. Dawson, M. S. Sagolla, J. J. Mancuso, D. J. Woessner, S. A. House, L. Fritz-Laylin, and W. Z. Cande
Kinesin-13 Regulates Flagellar, Interphase, and Mitotic Microtubule Dynamics in Giardia intestinalis
Eukaryot. Cell, December 1, 2007; 6(12): 2354 - 2364.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Cell Sci.Home page
L. A. Amos and K. Hirose
A cool look at the structural changes in kinesin motor domains
J. Cell Sci., November 15, 2007; 120(22): 3919 - 3927.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2006