Non-catalytic motor domains enable processive movement and functional diversification of the kinesin-14 Kar3
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Austria
Abstract
Motors proteins of the conserved kinesin-14 family have important roles in mitotic spindle organization and chromosome segregation. Previous studies have indicated that kinesin-14 motors are non-processive enzymes, working in the context of multi-motor ensembles that collectively organize microtubule networks. Here we show that the yeast kinesin-14 Kar3 generates processive movement as a heterodimer with the non-motor proteins Cik1 or Vik1. By analyzing the single-molecule properties of engineered motors we demonstrate that the non-catalytic domain has a key role in the motility mechanism by acting as a 'foothold' that allows Kar3 to bias translocation towards the minus end. This mechanism rivals the speed and run length of conventional motors, can support transport of the Ndc80 complex in vitro and is critical for Kar3 function in vivo. Our findings provide an example for a non-conventional translocation mechanism and can explain how Kar3 substitutes for key functions of Dynein in the yeast nucleus.
Article and author information
Author details
Copyright
© 2015, Mieck et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
Metrics
-
- 3,113
- views
-
- 514
- downloads
-
- 42
- citations
Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.
Citations by DOI
-
- 42
- citations for umbrella DOI https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.04489
Download links
A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.
Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)
Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)
Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)
Non-catalytic motor domains enable processive movement and functional diversification of the kinesin-14 Kar3
eLife 4:e04489.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.04489
