Kinesin 8
The Kinesin 8 Family are a subfamily of the molecular motor proteins known as kinesins. Most kinesins transport materials or cargo around the cell while traversing along microtubule polymer tracks with the help of ATP-hydrolysis-created energy. The Kinesin 8 family has been shown to play an important role in chromosome alignment during mitosis. Kinesin 8 family members KIF18A in humans[1] and Kip3 in yeast[2] have been shown to be in vivo plus-end directed microtubule depolymerizers. During prometaphase of mitosis, the microtubules attach to the kinetochores of sister chromatids. Kinesin 8 is thought to play some role in this process, as knockdown of this protein via siRNA produces a phenotype of sister chromatids that are unable to align properly.[1][3]
References
- Mayr MI, Hümmer S, Bormann J, et al. (March 2007). "The human kinesin Kif18A is a motile microtubule depolymerase essential for chromosome congression". Curr. Biol. 17 (6): 488–98. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.02.036. PMID 17346968. S2CID 17775603.
- Gupta ML, Carvalho P, Roof DM, Pellman D (September 2006). "Plus end-specific depolymerase activity of Kip3, a kinesin-8 protein, explains its role in positioning the yeast mitotic spindle". Nat. Cell Biol. 8 (9): 913–23. doi:10.1038/ncb1457. PMID 16906148. S2CID 24609384.
- Stumpff J, von Dassow G, Wagenbach M, Asbury C, Wordeman L (February 2008). "The kinesin-8 motor Kif18A suppresses kinetochore movements to control mitotic chromosome alignment". Dev Cell. 14 (2): 252–62. doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2007.11.014. PMC 2267861. PMID 18267093.