Kinesin-5 is a microtubule polymerase.

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

SUBMITTER: Chen Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4600729 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature