Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Cooper JR
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2909650 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Cooper Jeremy R JR Wagenbach Michael M Asbury Charles L CL Wordeman Linda L
Nature structural & molecular biology 20091206 1
The kinesin-13, MCAK, is a critical regulator of microtubule dynamics in eukaryotic cells. We have functionally dissected the structural features responsible for MCAK's potent microtubule depolymerization activity. MCAK's positively charged neck enhances its delivery to microtubule ends not by tethering the molecule to microtubules during diffusion, as commonly thought, but by catalyzing the association of MCAK to microtubules. On the other hand, this same positively charged neck slightly dimini ...[more]