Kinesin-5 is a microtubule polymerase

Yalei Chen and William O Hancock ()
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Yalei Chen: The Pennsylvania State University
William O Hancock: The Pennsylvania State University

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Kinesin-5 slides antiparallel microtubules during spindle assembly, and regulates the branching of growing axons. Besides the mechanical activities enabled by its tetrameric configuration, the specific motor properties of kinesin-5 that underlie its cellular function remain unclear. Here by engineering a stable kinesin-5 dimer and reconstituting microtubule dynamics in vitro, we demonstrate that kinesin-5 promotes microtubule polymerization by increasing the growth rate and decreasing the catastrophe frequency. Strikingly, microtubules growing in the presence of kinesin-5 have curved plus ends, suggesting that the motor stabilizes growing protofilaments. Single-molecule fluorescence experiments reveal that kinesin-5 remains bound to the plus ends of static microtubules for 7 s, and tracks growing microtubule plus ends in a manner dependent on its processivity. We propose that kinesin-5 pauses at microtubule plus ends and enhances polymerization by stabilizing longitudinal tubulin–tubulin interactions, and that these activities underlie the ability kinesin-5 to slide and stabilize microtubule bundles in cells.

Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms9160

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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9160

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