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MIT engineers show how tiny cell proteins generate force to 'walk'
November 25, 2008CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- MIT researchers have shown how a cell motor protein exerts the force to move, enabling functions such as cell division.
Kinesin, a motor protein that also carries neurotransmitters, "walks" along cellular beams known as microtubules. For the first time, the MIT team has shown at a molecular level how kinesin generates the force needed to step along the microtubules.
The researchers, led by Matthew Lang, associate professor of biological and mechanical engineering, report their findings in the Nov. 24 online early issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Because kinesin is involved in organizing the machinery of cell division, understanding how it works could one day be useful in developing therapies for diseases involving out-of-control cell division, such as cancer.
The protein consists of two "heads," which walk along the microtubule, and a long "tail," which carries cargo. The heads take turns stepping along the microtubule, at a rate of up to 100 steps (800 nanometers) per second.
In the PNAS paper, Lang and his colleagues offer experimental evidence for a model they reported in January in the journal Structure. Their model suggests - and the new experiments confirm - that a small region of the protein, part of which joins the head and tail is responsible for generating the force needed to make kinesin walk. Two protein subunits, known as the N-terminal cover strand and neck linker, line up next to each other to form a sheet, forming the cover-neck bundle that drives the kinesin head forward.
"This is the kinesin power stroke," said Lang.
Next, Lang's team plans to investigate how the two kinesin heads communicate with each other to coordinate their steps.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Because kinesin is involved in organizing the machinery of cell division, understanding how it works could one day be useful in developing therapies for diseases involving out-of-control cell division, such as cancer.
The protein consists of two "heads," which walk along the microtubule, and a long "tail," which carries cargo. The heads take turns stepping along the microtubule, at a rate of up to 100 steps (800 nanometers) per second.
In the PNAS paper, Lang and his colleagues offer experimental evidence for a model they reported in January in the journal Structure. Their model suggests - and the new experiments confirm - that a small region of the protein, part of which joins the head and tail is responsible for generating the force needed to make kinesin walk. Two protein subunits, known as the N-terminal cover strand and neck linker, line up next to each other to form a sheet, forming the cover-neck bundle that drives the kinesin head forward.
"This is the kinesin power stroke," said Lang.
Next, Lang's team plans to investigate how the two kinesin heads communicate with each other to coordinate their steps.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cell Division Current Events and Cell Division News RSSParadoxical protein might prevent cancer
One difficulty with fighting cancer cells is that they are similar in many respects to the body's stem cells. By focusing on the differences, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found a new way of tackling colon cancer. The study is presented in the prestigious journal Cell.
Study reveals why certain drug combinations backfire
Combination drug therapy has become a staple for treating many infections. For instance, doctors treat extensively drug resistant forms of tuberculosis with one drug that breaks down the pathogen's protective barriers and opens the door for another to deliver the deathblow.
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Common weed could provide clues on aging and cancer
A common weed and human cancer cells could provide some very uncommon details about DNA structure and its relationship with telomeres and how they affect cellular aging and cancer, according to a team led by scientists from Texas A&M University and the University of Cincinnati (UC).
Boston University scientists first to see RNA network in live bacterial cells
Scientists who study RNA have faced a formidable roadblock: trying to examine RNA's movements in a living cell when they can't see the RNA. Now, a new technology has given scientists the first look ever at RNA in a live bacteria cell-a sight that could offer new information about how the molecule moves and works.
Texas A&M researchers find new mechanism for circadian rhythm
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Checkered history of mother and daughter cells explains cell cycle differences
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Eutrophication affects diversity of algae
Eutrophication of the seas may have an impact on genetic variation in algae, research at the University of Gothenburg shows.
MDC scientists show how hematopoietic stem cell development is regulated
During cell division, whether hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) will develop into new stem cells (self-renewal) or differentiate into other blood cells depends on a chemical process called DNA methylation.
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